Hi Skool Daze Are Here To Stay
by Celelorien
Summary: Rated as such because there be lotsa happy slashy stuff! ^_^ this is a D/Z IZ fic, so if you don't like yaoi or D/Z, then poot on you and go away! Like the title indicates, it's Dib and Zim at Hi Skool!
1. The Food Fight

I've decided to try a little Zimmery... IZ, in my opinion, is one of the best shows out there.. ^_^ it is sooo funny... anyway, along with this being my first attempt at an Invader Zim fic, it is also my first try at yaoi, or guy-guy relationships. Yup, you guessed it, i'm a Dib/Zim supporter! ^_^ they make such a cuute couple... teehee... but it also ONLY works for them, out of the massive stockpile of other yaoi relationships i'm currently aware of... except Red/Purple and maybe Ash/Gary, but I never really was concerned about it... D/Z is much much cuter... ^_^ anyway, enough with the mindless chatter and on with the fic!  
(quick A/N: it's set a few years in the future, Dib is now 16 and Zim... well, he looks like he's sixteen, regardless of age. He's gotten taller, to his gratification, though not as tall as the Tallests. He's on a slightly short side of average, one could say. They are currently sophomores in Hi Skool. Gir is also a bit bigger, due to a nice upgrade. They also look a bit different... oo; i'll just shut up and draw a picture later...)  
  
Oh yeah, all that legal shmuff... I don't own IZ, I don't own Gir, or Zim, or Dib, or Gaz, or Prof. Membrane, or... you get the idea... I don't own ANYTHING OKAY! *snif* i wiish... so leave me alone you meaniefoo lawyers! HEY! Get away from my pennies! Those're MY two cents! *runs off to take pennies back*  
  
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"I'M LATE FOR SKOOL! GIR! WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN ME!" Zim hollered, running out the door.  
  
"I have chocolate bubble gum!" the brainless little robot chirped, sucking at a thick gooey slushie. Zim ran as fast as he could, and managed to slide into his seat before the bell rang.  
  
"What's the matter Zim? Get lost on the way to Skool?" Dib asked, smirking at him from across the room. Zim decided to ignore him. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or do they even HAVE cats on your planet?" he continued. Ms. Bitters swooshed up, glaring over Dib. She had, it seemed, followed them from Elmentry Skool through Midel Skool, and was still their teacher in Hi Skool. Dib gulped, and shut up.  
  
"Now, today we'll discuss how we're all doomed to die in a firey explosion when the sun goes out," Ms. Bitters said, slithering back to her desk. "We're all doomed, doomed, doomed, doomed..."  
  
Zim sat there for what felt like forever, waiting for Ms. Bitters to just shut up about the doom. His head started nodding, and he slumped across his desk, propping his head up with his arm and waiting for the class period to be over. Dib, on the other side of the room, was not having much better luck. His head started tilting dangerously forward, and finally he succumbed to the horrible boringness of it all and fell asleep, his arm acting as pillow. Zim jerked out of his stupor just before he too nodded off, and looked around in hopes of finding something interesting amongst the classroom. Some of the kids were sitting in a mindless trance, others were staring blankly out the window, searching for amusement there. Some were already asleep, and then Zim's eyes lit upon Dib. His gaze softened slightly, and he smiled. Dib was an annoying human stink-monkey pest most of the time, but when he was asleep he looked almost.. well... cute...? Zim shook his head to dispel such thoughts, a few of the kids coming out of their stupor to see what was up and upon finding nothing of interest, drifted off again. Zim scoffed at the notion. Dib was a stupid human-worm, and even so, they were both males. Males did not mate with males on this planet. Well, sometimes if the male in question was what the humans called gay, Zim amended, but they were at least the same species on Irk... Wait a minute, they? Was he identifying himself as one of the humans? That idea was quickly destroyed; Zim almost laughed out loud. He was far, far better than these stupid spooty-head stink beasts! Most of them, anyway, he added, his gaze shifting back to Dib. Zim held his head in his hands, staring at the desk instead. He had such confused feelings, he didn't know what to think anymore.  
  
Finally the bell rang to signal the start of lunch. The kids all jerked as they came out of their trances or woke up, and stampeded out the door. Zim started heading off, but noticed Dib hadn't woken up yet. He went over and poked him in the shoulder. "Wake up, the bell rang," he said. When this failed, he shook him harder. Dib stirred, and yawned, then opened an eye.  
  
"GAH! Zim!! Don't DO that!" he said, jumping.  
  
"Well excuuuse me, pooty human head!" Zim snarled. "For your information the lunch bell rang." With that, he stalked out of the classroom. Dib stared after him for a minute, then started going. He left for lunch absently, his mind focused on other matters. He sighed, staring down the hall towards the retreating back of Zim. His longish hair was tied back in a ponytail that hung about halfway down his back. (AN: taller size, longer antennae, longer wig needed.) Dib shook his head confusedly, guys weren't supposed to like guys. But he knew, deep down, that he had feelings for Zim. They had started from the moment he first saw him, even if he hadn't realized it then. At first, he thought he was obsessed with Zim because he wanted to expose him for the alien scum he was. Later, he realized just how much Zim meant to him.  
  
[Flashback Type Thingy]  
A lone figure sat on the playground swing, behind the Skool. His legs were drawn up onto the flat wooden bottom of the swing, his knees touching his chin. His arms loosely encircled his shins as he sat there, tears running down his face silently. He reached up and took off his glasses, wiping them off on his shirt before putting them back on. A grey foggy mist hung over the whole area, seeming to Dib like it was mocking his pain.  
  
"Well spooty human-beast, we meet again," a familiar voice said from the shadows. "This time, though, it appears I have the jump on you. I will destroy you now, so you can never reveal my secret... hey, why aren't you retorting with some snide comment?" Zim walked up to the figure on the swing, staring at him. "Are you... crying?"  
  
"No.." Dib said sullenly. "Go away." Of course HE would come... his rival, the one who made his life so bitter. Time and time he had tried to prove to everyone that he was an alien, but somehow Zim always weaseled out of it, with Dib the worse for wear. He pondered whether or not he could just find something to kill himself with here, and end the pain now. Zim! Zim was the answer! "Hey, you don't happen to have some sort of weapon on you, do you?" Dib asked, looking up at the green kid who made his life miserable, and with any luck would end it now.  
  
"Well... um.. yeah, actually... just my laser," Zim said, startled by such an unexpected question. "Something wrong?"  
  
Dib grinned, and it was kind of scary looking. His face looked.. maniacal, almost. "Nothing, in fact, everything's great," he said. He hopped off the swing, walked a couple paces away from Zim, then turned around and held his arms out. "Shoot me," he said, staring at Zim. Zim deadpanned.  
  
"WHAT?" he asked, blinking at him a couple times.  
  
"You heard me, shoot me!" Dib said, grinning at him. The alien hesitated. Dib grew angry. "Shoot me already! I would think that you, of all people, would be perfectly happy to kill me at a moment's notice. It'd keep everything you hold dear or whatever a secret. Just shoot me!"  
  
Zim stood silent for a moment, then replied, "No." Dib's face grew cloudy with anger, and he lowered his arms.  
  
"If you won't shoot me, I'll make you," he growled, and flung himself at Zim, ready to punch him as hard as he could. He saw this as a win-win situation: either Zim would shoot him in defense, or Dib could knock him out and take his gun to do the job himself. Zim waited until the last second, to be sure there was no stopping him, and jumped out of the way. "Curse you! Why won't you shoot?" Dib screeched, skidding to a stop and turning to face Zim. He launched himself at him again, and again, and again... Each time Zim dodged him skilfully. Dib finally sank to the ground, exhausted. "Why won't you kill me?" he screamed, pounding the ground with his fists, the tears started afresh. "End my pain, end it! Or do you enjoy seeing me suffer?" He was dirty and disheveled, and his hair, usually scythe-shaped, had fallen around his face. Zim just stared at him for a minute, and Dib almost thought he saw hurt in his contact-covered eyes.  
  
"No," he said softly. "It should not be this way. You are a better specimen of the human race than you think. You, at least, are smart enough to at least delay me in my plans for world domination. Go, clean yourself up, and perhaps next time we meet things will be different." Dib was shocked, it seemed so out of character. No mean taunts about him being inferior? No being called a filthy stink-beast or some other similar insult? Zim merely nodded, then turned around and walked away. Dib succumbed to his exhaustion and emotional overtaxing, and passed out on the playground.  
[End Flashback]  
  
Dib sighed, and got in the lunchline, his feet having taken him there automatically. He wrinkled his nose; it was Ketchup n Rice day... Yup, they had it in Hi Skool too... "Man, why can't the skool system hire decent cafeteria cooks?" he grumbled as the ricey, ketchupy, yucky mass was splattered onto his plate. He looked around the cafeteria in despair once more; nobody ever wanted him to sit with them, and almost all the seats were either taken or reserved. Finally he saw Zim, alone at a corner table. He shook his head and steeled himself, and walked over. "Can I sit here?" he mumbled, staring down at the ketchup n rice on his tray.  
  
"Sure," Zim said, to Dib's total surprise.  
  
"Really? I mean, um, thanks," Dib replied, sliding into a chair. He stared at the oozing blob on his plate and pushed it around with his fork. Zim wasn't eating it either. Dib looked out over the mass of kids in the cafeteria, and grinned with an idea. "Hey Zim, I just thought of something really interesting we could do with this stuff," Dib said quietly, grinning with anticipated fun.  
  
"Oh really? There's actually a use for this disgusting Earthen filth?" Zim asked, half sarcastically. In answer, Dib pried a large congealed chunk off the blob of ketchup n rice with his spoon, aimed carefully at a table near the center, so as not to leave any sort of indication as to where it came from. He pulled the fork back, and let the block fly.  
  
"OW! EWW! Who did that?!" demanded some guy. Apparently he was upset that his football jersey or whatever had gotten the disgusting mass on them. Zim and Dib snickered quietly. Not being the brightest of guys, he glared around the tables and decided to pick on Keef. (also older) He scooped up a glob himself, and let it fly. It missed and hit some other jock.  
  
"FOOD FIIIGHT!" the other guy yelled, and instantly the cafeteria was filled with flying blobs of the reddish substance. Dib started to laugh openly, and Zim joined the fighting frenzy. A while later, the administration came down and tried to put a stop to it. With a well aimed fling, Zim pasted the principal on the forehead. Soon the guy (and the other teaching staff who had come to help) were plastered with ketchup n rice. One of the unfortunate saps got hit in the mouth, and had to run screaming for the bathroom. The bell rang for second lunch to come in, but the fighting continued. As the other kids got in, they grinned and joined the fun. Eventually the principal just shouted that he couldn't take it anymore, he was quitting and skool was done for the rest of the day. The kids cheered, and flooded out the doors, each one of them headed home.  
  
"Great idea, Dib," whispered Zim, grinning. He wasn't unscathed, but he had dealt more yucky goo-ness out than recieved.  
  
"Thanks, glad to know Ketchup n Rice day can be useful," Dib said, still laughing a little. He too was a bit plastered. They soon parted, going their separate ways. When Dib got home, he took a shower with all his clothes on to get rid of the congealed cafeteria 'food' and changed into a clean outfit, throwing the rest of his clothes and his black trenchcoat in the dryer. It was then he realized that Zim had actually given him a compliment, and hadn't said Dib-worm or stink beast, or anything else like that. Dib smiled softly to himself. It had been a very good day at skool. He lay back on his bed, and drifted off into a nap.  
  
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Hope you guys liked it! And if you don't like D/Z or yaoi or whatever, then foo on you for reading it and just GO AWAY. there is absolutely no need to flame me, as it is a free country and I can write what I want to, so meh! :p anyway, yay for the Zimminess and Dibbiness! Don't worry Gir-fans, there will be more of Gir in the future, as well as a coupla picchas! YEE! this is Celelorien, signing out! PEACE OUT AND WRITE ON, TO ALL! YAAY! 


	2. The Truth Hurts

yes! It is I, your faithful *people stare* well, maybe not-so-faithful fic writer! I try! I really do! ^___^ aww, i can't be all sad n stuff right now! I HAVE DA POWER OF DA DIGITAL CAMERAA!! MUAHAHAHA... ha... haa? oh... sorry.. ^_^ that means, for any of you that care, that I can now put my *hand drawn* pictures on the comp! i'm a MUCH better drawer IRL than on da compie wif da mouse... why don't they invent something like they have for the palm pilot so you can just draw on the screen and have it transferred into your paint program or whatever? foo.. anyway, this means that pictures of:   
(a) Older Zim (b) Older Dib (c) Older Gaz (d) Older Gir (e) Various fic scenes (f) all of the above  
Will be available. If you chose f, GOOD FOR YOU! You get a cookie for being right! ^_^ ooh... i'm way too hyper... mehehehe... but that's a GOOD thing! Also, I want to say I LOVE YOU MORPHEUS because now i have Zim eppies i've missed right here on my own comp! which means I can pause at cool scenes! which means I can practice drawing Zim/Gir/Dib/Gaz! Which means my pictures won't horribly suck! ...or at least not as bad as they would... hm.. ON WITH DA FIC!  
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"MASTERRR! You need a huug!" Gir screeched as soon as Zim set foot inside.  
  
"No! Gir! I'm all yucky and ketchupy and ricey!" Zim yelled, but Gir didn't care. He tackled Zim and tried to squish his squeedily spooch. Well, that's how it felt anyway. "Auugh! Giir! Get ooofff!" Zim said, gasping for air. Gir detached himself and sniffed interestedly at Zim's clothes.  
  
"Ooooh, ketchuuup!" Gir said, grinning at him. "Can I eat your clothes?"  
  
Zim gave him an odd look. "No you can not! I must go and be cleansed of this filthy... filthyness! I would say that I hate their stupid human ketchup n rice day, but it was actually kind of fun for once..."  
  
"Oooh! FUN! What happened whathappened whathappenedwhathappened??" Gir said, running in circles around Zim's legs.  
  
"The Dib-human started a food fight," Zim said, laughing as he remembered. "I got to paste the principal, it was fun! For a filthy human stink beast, Dib's got some good ideas every once in a while." Zim thought on that for a minute. "Once in a loooong while," he added.  
  
"Dib's fuun! He gives me cupcakes when I talk to him!" Gir said, grinning.  
  
"You WHAT?!" Zim yelled; what if Gir had been slipping him information on his base, or his people?!  
  
"He gives me cupcakes and asks me questions, and I talk to him about the Scary Monkey Show and brainfreezies and tacos and..." Gir said, rambling on and on about his favorite subjects. Zim let out a sigh of relief; Gir hadn't let anything important slip.  
  
"Yes, yes, that's very good Gir.. I'm going to the cleansing room to get this filthy ketchup n rice off of me," Zim interrupted, and went through the portal beneath the little desk thing in the corner.  
  
"OKAY!" Gir said, starting to roll on the floor a bit. His antenna let out a little beep. "OOH! The Scary Monkey Show is coming on!" he yelled, running to the TV.  
  
*******  
  
Zim jumped out of the cleansing chamber, his clothes all wet and soggy. He grinned at the wet clothes. "Ahh, the stink of clean," Zim said, sniffing appreciatively. "No more filthy ketchup and rice yuck on ZIM'S clothing.. Lemony fresh victory is miine!" He threw the wet clothes in the drying chamber, and changed into some dry clothes. He studied himself in the mirror for a minute. Due to necessity, he had had to stop wearing his Invader uniform; it was too small for him, and some of the kids had started asking if it was a dress. Apparently it was un-human for males to wear dresses. Zim wasn't really a male, though; they didn't really have gender distinctions on Irk unless you'd already hit the Change. Zim frowned at the mirror then; what would happen when HE hit the Change? He certainly didn't hope he would go female, but that was always a risk... A /small/ risk, but a risk nonetheless. That was another thing, though... There weren't any Irken on this planet... He pushed that thought aside, and figured that when the change came, it would come, and that bridge would be crossed then and not a moment before.  
  
A loud crashing noise sounded from above, and Zim mentally groaned. "Better go see what Gir's destroyed now," Zim grumbled, heading for the lifting shaft.  
  
"EEEEEE! MONKEEYY!" Gir was hollering, tears in his greenish eyes. "Why, Monkey, whyy? I love-ded yoouu! I love-ded yooou!" He was sitting next to the remains of lamp he'd smashed in surprise.  
  
"Gir!! What's the problem n... My Tallest!" Zim yelped, noticing why 'Monkey' was gone. He bowed slightly. "My Tallest, it is an honor to-"  
  
"Save it, Zim," Red interrupted. "Purple and me have been thinking for a while, and we've decided that it's time to tell you the truth."  
  
"The... truth?" Zim asked, confused. What truth?  
  
"We sent you to Earth to get RID of you, Zim," Purple said, looking at Red. "We're fed up with all these reports on how you're going to take over Earth sometime soon, and it's been a number of years since then." Red nodded.  
  
"We don't want to hear from you anymore, Zim. You are, as of now, officially banished to Earth. Your mission is annulled, heck, it wasn't even a real mission to start with," Red said, shrugging.  
  
"By the way, you can't quit being banished this time. If you DO come back, we'll just kill you, kay?" Purple said, smiling at Zim. SMILING. Zim couldn't believe it.  
  
"But... but... YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! INVADER BLOOD RUNS THROUGH MY VEINS! YOU CANNOT DENY MY VEINS!" Zim screeched, staring at the Tallests in disbelief.  
  
"Oh, I think we can. In fact, we are," Red commented, and the screen blinked black before returning to the Scary Monkey Show. Gir didn't seem to notice, though, he was staring at his master unhappily. Even his messed up little brain could comprehend that something bad had happened.  
  
"Masterr?" he asked tentatively.  
  
Zim stared blankly at the screen. "All for nothing... nothiingg... They hated me, Gir, they hated me... They sent me here to get rid of me..." he said numbly. Hatred and anger, and a whole lot of unhappiness boiled up inside him. "I'LL GET THEM! I'LL GET THHEEEMM! THEY CANNOT DO THIS TO ZIIIM!" he screamed, then fled the house, running as fast as he could, trying to escape the horrible truth... "Truth," he hissed angrily. "Truth, they said. I'll show them... Truth indeed! I'LL give them truth! It is TRUE that I WILL COME BACK, and I WILL destroyy theemmm!" Hot tears blinded his eyes, he was just thankful he'd left his wig on when he cleansed himself. It was still in place, but he'd left his contacts at home. "So what if the humans see me? I don't care, I DON'T CAARE!" he yelled, and kept running, headed for the park.  
  
*******  
  
"I DON'T CAARE!" someone yelled, and Dib looked up from the newest alien catching device he was making.  
  
"That sounded like Zim," he said, and looked out his window. Sure enough, the green-skinned alien was out running, his wig flying behind him. "Sounds like he's upset... should I go talk to him?" he mused. Zim DID look awfully unhappy, but Dib was pretty sure that an upset Zim was not one he wanted to confront alone. But.. then again... Dib shook his head confusedly, then made up his mind. "Gaz, I'm going out for a while, okay?" he called into the living room as he left.  
  
"Don't distract me, I'm on the fourteenth level," Gaz grumbled.  
  
"So? You've already beaten the game forty times," Dib commented, and shut the door.  
  
"GRR! You messed me up! I'm gonna hafta DOOM YOU now!" Gaz yelled, and debated going after him that second. "Naah, I'll just wait for him to come back. First, I'll have some pizza," she decided, picking up the phone.  
  
Dib ran, trying not to lose sight of Zim. He was catching up a little, mostly because every now and then Zim would half-stumble, like he couldn't really see where he was going. He entered the park, and literally seemed to disappear. Dib ran in, too, and looked around. "There!" he said to himself, pointing at a large rock. He could just see the edge of one of Zim's boots poking out. He crept up behind the rock, and sat down to see if he could find out what was wrong.  
  
"Not real, not real, no hope.. I'll never make it back to Irk, never... They'll send the Armada after me, they will, and then I'll just be space dust.. It's death then or now, no real point to live, no real point, might as well go now rather than then..." Zim was mumbling, and it sounded suspiciously like he was crying, or had been recently. Dib stood up, and went around the rock to meet the biggest surprise of his life.  
  
"Zim??" he asked, staring at him. Startled, the green one dropped the laser he'd been about to fire. It had been pointed at himself.  
  
"Oh, it's you," he grumbled, glaring up at him. His crimson eyes were even redder; Dib supposed crying had bad effects on him just like water did. Funny, he'd never noticed just how... beautiful... his eyes were... He flushed at the thought, and tried to ignore it. "What do YOU want? To torment me some more? Maybe you'd like to be the one to pull the trigger, how about that?" Zim asked, holding the laser gun out to Dib. Hands shaking, he took it, remembering the scene from so long ago... He turned, and flung the gun away. It landed in the pond, splashing down and sinking quickly.  
  
"No. You're better than that. What's wrong?" Dib asked, sitting down next to Zim. Something within him reached out for this unhappy alien, his only 'friend,' if he could call him that. Dib realized it was empathy; he was feeling sorry for Zim... He almost grinned at the thought of feeling sorry for an alien, but bit it back when he saw how miserable Zim really was.  
  
"Nothing... and... everything!" Zim replied, almost starting to cry again. "Why won't you kill mee? Throw me in the pond, please, just do SOMETHING..."  
  
"But why?" Dib persisted.  
  
Zim started laughing. "You're fine, you know, there's no threat from me anymore... Never was, really, Earth is safe once more!" he said, laughing and crying at the same time.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dib asked, staring at him confusedly. Zim stopped laughing, and glared at Dib coldly. He shrank back under the fierce gaze, the hatred he saw there. Yet at the same time he knew it was not directed at him.  
  
"I never had a mission here, not a real one. My Tallests, my leaders, sent me here to get rid of me. They hated me! They used my need to prove myself against me, and sent me to this filthy backwater planet hoping I'd die or something," he hissed, staring down at his hands. They were clenched into fists, and he was shaking with anger.  
  
"Wow... that sucks... I'm.. sorry..." Dib said, staring at the ground too. A strange noise came from Zim, almost like he was choking.  
  
"You're... SORRY? Being SORRY won't help anything, I've been banished, again! It wasn't bad enough that I was banished the FIRST time, but now if I come back they're going to shoot me down like I was some filthy beast, not even fit to be an Invader anymore! Not bad enough that they did it when I was short, now that I'm taller they're going to shoot me down like I was nothing! NOTHING!" Zim yelled, starting to cry again. Automatically, Dib reached out for him and drew Zim into a hug, holding him loosely, mumbling comfortingly. He had done this for Gaz often when their mother had first died, and he needed to comfort Zim, to tell him it was all right, would BE all right. Slowly the alien's sobs ceased, and Dib looked down in surprise to see he had fallen asleep, leaning against Dib.  
  
"Oh, this is fabulous," Dib said to himself, looking up at the sky. Dark, ominous clouds had started to gather, promising rain soon. He sighed; he couldn't just leave Zim here if it was going to rain. Adjusting himself so one arm was behind Zim's shoulders and the other was under his knees, he stood. Zim was surprisingly light, for being almost as tall as Dib. Looking around to see if anyone was out in the park, he saw none. The threat of heavy rain probably kept most people inside. Dib started off for his home, figuring the lawn gnomes would try to vaporize him if he went to Zim's house.  
  
Thankful that he had seen and encountered nobody, he finally reached his house. Opening the door, he crept as quietly as he could to his room. He laid Zim on the bed, and sighed in relief that they had made it, just as raindrops started to tap against the roof. Soon the tapping got louder, and a full-fledged downpour was on. He turned towards his doorway, and was greeted by the sight of a scary-looking Gaz. Not that she didn't look scary usually, but she had the calm rage look that meant he was due for a dooming. He grinned at her nervously. "Gaz, um, yeah, sorry about messing up your game, I... hey, you want me to buy you pizza?" he asked, desperate for a way out of the dooming. He hoped she hadn't seen Zim. Gaz thought this offer over.  
  
"Yes. You pay for the pizza, and I won't doom you as badly," she said, turning around to go downstairs. He sighed in relief; a Gaz dooming was a very painful thing and anything to lessen it was worth it. He pulled the covers up over Zim, and left a smallish mound of pillows by his head to hide him from view. He turned and went downstairs, where Gaz held out the phone. "You call, they know me by name by now, and I don't want any of their stupid comments on how pizza at every meal really is bad for you. I mean, I DO eat cereal every now and then." Dib nodded, and ordered. They enjoyed the pizza in companionable silence, and Gaz decided to drop the dooming charge. "Well, I'm going to play my game now. Why don't you go upstairs and check on Zim? He might've woken up and started destroying things by now," Gaz said, pulling out her Platinum Edition GameSlave version 7. Dib almost choked; she HAD noticed. Still, her advice was sound, and she didn't seem to care that Zim was in his room. He went upstairs, and locked the door to his room when he got in. Zim was still asleep, he noted, which meant he hadn't destroyed anything important. He was pretty thankful for that. He grabbed last month's issue of his favorite UFO magazine, and settled down on the floor to read. After a while, Zim started stirring. Dib closed his magazine and watched to make sure he didn't try to kill him or anything.  
  
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Hope you likees! New chapter will probably come soon, like I said, tis spring break and i have lotsa time! YAAY! anyway, hope you all enjoyed it and thank you very very very much for all the comments! I wuv you all! a few individual notes:  
ArmAndLeg & Cherry-Wolf: Of course there will be more! ^_^ i've made a solemn vow that from now on, any stories that I start WILL be completed... unless it's an old one i started a long time ago and i have lotsa stuff up already but i have zero interest in completing it... which is probably why i won't post my Pokemon fic... *shudder* yuck, i used to love Pokemon and now it's just kinda iffy.... o0; sorry to all you Poke-people, just doesn't interest me no more...  
Lady Lina: they're sophomores, and Gaz is a freshman... or freshwoman.. freshperson? political correctness is wierd... o0;  
Xelloss: heehee, was it Ketchup n Rice day there? ^_^ eww, i don't like foodfights much though... so.. much... FIILLTH.... bleeh...  
Anywhoo! I hope you liked my chapter, and there will be lots more to come, like picchas n stuff! yaay and happiness! ^_~ i put a coupla quotes/almost quotes from some of the eppies i've been poking through on my comp in the Zim-Gir dialogue, can you spot them? hint: they're from the Germs episode... ^_^ peace out and write on, all!  
  
~*~Celelorien~*~ 


	3. The Chapter of Much Dialogue and Some Fl...

Wooohooo! Lookit dat! A new chapter already!! ^__^;; sorry about the long name, i couldn't think of anything else.. any suggestions? ahh anyway.. I love you brand new inspirational episodes of IZ! *watches her tape of the new ep yesterday for the zillionth time* Yeeheehee, I love IZ! It's a good thing Nick came to its senses and kept it! Pictures will come soon, just as soon as I figure out why Side 7 hasn't sent me a confirmation email yet... o0;; Geocities sucks... but if I must upload it there, then SO BE IT! o0; ooh, i scared myself again! ^_^ anyway, enjoy the new chapter! note: there's some fluff at the end of it... yay for happy yaoi fluffness!  
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"Nnngh... where am I?" Zim wondered, groggily starting to open his eyes. A ceiling that was not his own met his eyes. He sat up quickly, and looked around. /This is not my house!/ he thought, panicking. Then he saw Dib, staring at him. "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!" he yelled, pulling the covers up to his chin. DIB'S covers; he was in Dib's bed! In Dib's house! "What do you want with mee? Don't kill mee!" he yelped, then remembered both why he was here and why he'd been in the park in the first place. "Oh yeah... never mind, you can kill me," he grumbled, sighing unhappily. He was a failure, a reject of Irken society.  
  
"Don't say that," Dib said, coming to sit on the bed with him.  
  
"Why not?" Zim asked, glaring at Dib defiantly. "If I want to die, why can't I?"  
  
"Because I won't let you," Dib said, staring back at Zim levelly. Zim's glare slowly turned into a frown of puzzlement.  
  
"And why won't you let me? It would mean you would have proof I was an alien, and maybe even get famous for my autopsy," Zim asked, wondering why on Earth (or anywhere else for that matter) the Dib-human of all people would want to save him. His own SPECIES didn't even want him.  
  
"I won't let you 'cause you're the reason I get up every morning," Dib said seriously. "And I don't care about getting you on an autopsy table anymore, fame only lasts so long. Friendship is much longer. Would you, maybe, consider being just friends, and not enemies?" he asked, looking at Zim hopefully.  
  
"I... guess," Zim said, pulling his knees up to his chin. "Isn't like I need to worry about invading or keeping my identity a secret anyway. Considering I'm banished, and nobody will ever come for me, how about we make a deal. You teach me more about Earth, and I'll tell you about my people. Your human spaceflight attempts don't even go past your own solar system for the most part, so it isn't a big deal."  
  
Dib grinned at Zim. "Okay, but I have something to add to the deal," he said, thinking back over their conversation in the park. "Your leaders, the Tallests, you called em? I vote we try to get back at them! Deal?" Dib stuck out his hand to shake on it.  
  
"Deal!" Zim said, taking it and grinning. They shook, then hastily let go as a knock sounded on Dib's door.  
  
"Dib, open this door now or I'm telling everyone at Hi Skool you two were making out in there," growled Gaz from the other side.  
  
"GAZ!!" Dib yelled, unlocking the door and glaring at her. "We were not!"  
  
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Gaz said, opening one eye to glare balefully at him. "Cough up my game, or you die. A slow, horrible, painful sort of death."  
  
"What game?" Dib asked, trying to think if he'd stolen any games recently. "Oh.." He poked around his computer desk until he found the cartridge. "Sorry, had to borrow it for a while... You don't usually play it anyway," he said sheepishly, handing over the older version of Gaz's vampire piggies game.  
  
"I'll let you off this time, but if you take any more of my games without asking, you'll wake up in a torture chamber. Got it?" she asked, slipping the cartridge into her Game Slave. Without waiting for a response she wandered out of his room, focused on her game.  
  
"Wow, she's really into her games, isn't she?" Zim commented.  
  
"Games and pizza, the only things she ever thinks about for the most part," Dib replied, shaking his head. "I think one-track minds are genetic though. Dad only thinks about his work and I admit I'm mostly about the paranormal."  
  
"Eh, at least you had a choice of what to be one-track about," Zim said, shrugging. "On Irk, we're divided up at birth for what it is we're going to be, then we train in that area."  
  
"Really? Sounds very militarian... what do you /do/ on Irk, anyway?" Dib asked, coming to sit on the bed again.  
  
"Well, there are a number of different occupations. The major ones are Invader, Warrior, Specialist, and Worker. There are a zillion sub-sections, and more categories, I think, but I'll just describe the ones I remember. Invaders are what I am, or was," he said, pausing as he remembered. "They sneak onto an enemy planet, disguise themselves to look like the natives, and find out a planet's weaknesses. They report back to the Tallests, and then the Armada comes to take it over and make it part of the Irken Empire. The Tallests usually name it something stupid and make it serve a basic purpose."  
  
"Stupid names? Like what? Can't get much stupider than Earth for a planet," Dib said, shrugging.  
  
"Oh, you'd be surprised," Zim said ruefully. "There's Food Courtia, the fast food planet, Call Nowia, the marketing planet, and Conventia, the convention planet, and those are just a few examples."  
  
"Wow, those are some pretty lame names," Dib said, laughing. "What about the Warriors?"  
  
"Warriors are just that, the warrior groups," Zim said. "They're the ground forces for the Armada, if the inhabitants of the planet they're conquering go underground they go in after them. They're usually very skilled with both weaponry and hand to hand combat. Invaders are trained to a small degree for self defense and other worst-case scenarios, but Warriors are a thousand times more deadly." Dib shuddered, recalling all the close calls he'd had with just Zim, and he was an Invader! It was a good thing they weren't trained as hard as Warriors, or he might be dead now! "Anyway," Zim continued, oblivious, "the Specialists are the ones in charge of inventing things and repairing things, they have a lot to do with the technological parts of society. I don't know much about them other than they make all the useful stuff Invaders use. Workers I know more about, considering I was one once."  
  
"I thought you said you were assigned a position at birth and stayed there," Dib asked curiously.  
  
"It was when I was banished," Zim said shortly. "The first time, I mean."  
  
"The first time? How did you get un-banished?" Dib asked, remembering something about it from the park.  
  
"I.. um... I quit," Zim said sheepishly.  
  
"How do you quit being banished?"  
  
"I just kinda left, I didn't really quit being banished. I guess that's why they sent me here. Secret mission my foot!"  
  
"Oh. That's kinda funny, you just quit being banished!"  
  
"Yeah yeah, rub it in. I was a lot shorter then, okay?"  
  
"What does height have to do with anything?" Dib asked, now thoroughly confused. He remembered the leaders being called the Tallests, and Zim had been yelling something about being banished when he was short not bad enough, they did it when he was taller. Zim just gaped at him for a minute.  
  
"What does height have to do with anything?" Zim repeated, staring. "Height is everything on Irk! The taller ones are favored and given the good assignments, and the shortest ones are left out of everything, made into Workers at some menial task! If you aren't big, you're absolutely nothing!" he almost yelled.  
  
"What?? That seems kinda stupid," Dib said, remembering how short Zim had been when he'd come to Earth. The same size as he had been, not too short.  
  
"Stupid or not, that's the way things were. It was especially hard for me to be an Invader, always pushed around or picked on, smallest of the small! I swore I'd show them, and now look at me. Banished AGAIN on some Irk-forsaken backwater dirtball," Zim grumbled.  
  
"So... why'd you get banished the first time?" Dib asked, curiosity getting the better of him.  
  
"I um... I..." Zim started, flushing embarrassedly. "Well... Iaccidentallyblewuphalfmyownplanet."  
  
"You WHAT?" Dib said, biting back his laughter.  
  
"I was assigned a destroyer-mech in Operation Impending Doom I, and I got a little over-excited. Come to think of it, maybe I was delirious... I have no idea, I don't remember much from that night. Apparently I started early and blew up half of Irk. Quite an accomplishment, but one I'd rather have done somewhere else."  
  
"Wow... That's really cool!" Dib said, grinning at Zim. "I mean, not cool that it was your own planet, but think how quick you coulda conquered some other planet like that!!" Zim grinned back.  
  
"Yeah, I guess it /was/ pretty cool..." he said. "Thanks, I feel a lot better. But I should probably go home now, Gir might be worried."  
  
"Huh? No way, you can't leave now! It's still raining cats and dogs out there!" Dib protested, pointing out the window. Zim looked at him confusedly.  
  
"That's just water, not animals. Why did you say cats and dogs were raining instead of water?" Zim asked, raising an eyebrow. Or what would've been one, if he had them.  
  
"It's just an expression, it means its raining really hard," Dib said, laughing at his expression. "Anyway, I don't think it'll let up until morning, and I don't really have a large supply of paste. I think you'll just have to stay overnight."  
  
"Whaat? Stay here? Where will I sleep?" Zim asked, staring dumbfoundedly (is that a word? o0;) at Dib.  
  
"You can take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch downstairs. I just hope Gaz doesn't spread evil rumors... better not do anything to annoy her for a while..." he grumbled, imagining the vicious things she could say about such an incident. "Anyway, there's certainly no way you can go outside. You wouldn't make it halfway home."  
  
Zim sighed. "I guess you're right," he said, then shuddered as he lay down, blinking sleepily. "I despise the rain soo much... filthy water..."  
  
Dib grinned at his expression, then turned to leave. "Good night," Dib said, disappearing into the hallway and shutting the door quietly.  
  
"Night," Zim replied, his lids closing heavily.  
  
Dib headed downstairs, and spread himself out on the couch, surprised to see that Gaz wasn't there watching TV or playing her games. He figured she'd gone back to her own room to play in the quiet. Yawning, he took off his glasses, putting them safely on the little table by the couch. He soon drifted off to dreams.  
  
********  
  
Zim woke up suddenly, blinking. He was still in Dib's room, and the fluorescent clock by the bed said it was 3 o'clock in the morning. He looked out the window and saw the rain had stopped. He crept quietly downstairs, figuring he'd go ahead and leave. A soft noise from the other room made him freeze in his tracks. Tiptoeing towards the source, he found Dib, shaking like crazy. "No, no, go away, leave me alone! Go away, stop it, just stop..." he mumbled, one arm flailing as if he was fighting something off. Zim stared for a second, wondering what he should do.  
  
On instinct he knelt down by Dib, running his fingers through his hair. "Shh, shh, it's okay, I'm here. Nothing to be afraid of, don't worry. Shh, shh..." he whispered softly. Dib slowly quieted, lying passively on the couch. /He should probably go to bed,/ Zim thought, and lifted Dib in his arms, remembering to grab his glasses. He wasn't very heavy, but then again Irken training included building up your strength. Dib seemed to weigh almost nothing. Zim crept upstairs and laid Dib on the bed. "A favor returned," he whispered softly. The moonlight danced across Dib's pale face, making him look even paler than he was. He looked so.. fragile... and peaceful, just lying there. Zim fought it for a while, then yielded to temptation. He kissed Dib's cheek lightly, hardly more than a butterfly kiss, then activated his spider legs and disappeared out the window into the star studded night. Behind him, Dib smiled in his sleep, putting a hand up to cheek tenderly.  
  
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Yess, you guessed it! Iiiit's NOTE TIME! riiiight... i wuv yu all for responding, and hope you keep reading! i don't really know where it's headed, but that's okay. i'll figure it out eventually... and then i shall write more! yaay! um... yah! okay! anyway, thanki all for such happy nice comments! ^-^ you make me feel so love-ded! on to the individdies now!!  
PRHG: aww, don't beat em up too bad! i might need em later in the story! or I might write a P/R story later! o0; maybe... I dunno... I like Purple better than Red... no, I like Red... no, Purple... AUGH! i dunno, they both rock!  
ArmAndLeg: teehee... i love incorrect English, it's so much fun! it's wierd though... i like to stare at a word and think up different spellings for the way it sounds, and then I start doubting whether or not it's actually spelled right when it is... like the word 'wierd', i'll start pretending it's pronounced like wired, and i'll spell it weerd or weird or...o0; then i get all confused... and i wonder why on earth it's spelled 'wierd' in the first place... 0o; now i've gone and confused myself.. oy..  
Goddess o. D.: thankiiee! yaay!  
C-W: ^-^ ah yes, the joys of ZADR... i dunno, i just don't think ZAGR works very well... the only time Gaz even deigns to notice Zim is when he's bothering her. Then she attempts to destroy him... or when he's convenient to use to bother Dib with... ech.. whatever!  
Diartemis: Hmm... i'll have to check that out sometime... ^_^ i think they were glad to get out of school early, so they didn't mind the whole yuckiness factor so much...  
Lina: Yess... foodfights are very... interesting... very messy, too... yech... and there are mean evil demon girls wherever you go to school... it's a fact of life...  
MiracleChick: lol, that's kinda funny... nice to know my fic's useful too.. ^__^  
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed my random babbling... oh, and my fic, too... ^_~ ah, young love... ohh, tis a grand thing... i can't believe I actually wrote the cute fluffy part while high on popcorn, butter, salt, and Mountain Dew... and it turned out pretty good, i think! ^_^ yay for fluff! personally the best part about ZADR is all that cute happy fluffiness... .^_^. yay for fluff! i'm really trying to get the pictures up soon! 


	4. part A: Dib's Dream

Just felt I'd post this lil bit rather than keep you all waiting for the whole next chapta... Tis, as the title states, the dream you were wondering about... ^_^ Aww for fluff from the other side of the viewpoint... a lil violence, but then this IS Dib, and his life sucks... ah, doncha hate those fecking preps and jocks who think they're so much better than the quote-unquote 'outcasts'? grr... *is considered pretty outcasty* too darn quiet, actually.. but that's okay... ^_^ it scares people when i stop being quiet, so i like being quiet so i can stop being quiet and scare em... is that making sense? if it is, YAY! you're just as crazy as mee! ^_~ anyway, on to the dreamtime...  
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Dib stumbled through the misty landscape, shivering. He knew where he was, he came here often in his dreams. He privately called it his interim zone, where his dreams would put him before shifting him off to some memory-dream. Sometimes it was a good memory, like Christmas snowball fights with his Mom... that had been before she died. The dreams always sent him there after a good Mom-memory. He would relive her death, and her funeral, and the pain of the days after. The mists slowly faded away as he walked, revealing grass. He looked up to see the playground equipment of his old Elmentry Skool. He shivered again, from fear this time, not cold. More likely than not this was to be another nightmare memory; Skool had always been his own personal living hell. He looked down to see his body regressed to that of his childhood, when he was in fifth grade. Torque appeared out of the shadows, surrounded by his friends. They were all useless jocks, stupid fools who were blind to the truth. He should've known better, should've known to keep his mouth shut about Zim being an alien. It only led to trouble. They advanced, cracking their knuckles and grinning. The thrashing began in earnest.  
  
Dib sank to his knees, it was useless to resist. They always won, and if he ran, they would catch him easily. "No, no, go away, leave me alone!" he cried out, trying futilely to shield his face. They threw him on his back, laughing as they kicked him around. He put up a hand to fend them off. "Go away, stop it, just stop..." he sobbed. The pain he felt here hurt like it was real. He would never win. The attacks ceased suddenly, as his tormentors turned to face someone new.  
  
"It's okay, I'm here," the figure said. Dib opened his eyes, staring at him. The one being who knew he was right, and didn't laugh at him for it. Even Gaz laughed sometimes; she didn't care about Zim being an alien, didn't want any part of Dib's obsession with revealing him. "Nothing to be afraid of, don't worry," Zim said, smiling comfortingly at him. He turned to glare at Dib's foes, and they vanished in mist.  
  
"Why are you here?" Dib asked, standing up wearily. He leaned against a tree, too hurt to move much. "Zim... why...?" He slid to the side, returned to his normal form. The bruises and cuts were still there, though. He felt himself falling backwards, to be caught by a pair of thin yet strong arms. Zim's arms. He stared up at his rescuer, who was silent for a while before answering.  
  
"A favor returned," he said, and kneeled down to lay Dib on the soft green grass, no longer stained red. The hurts had disappeared, too, and Dib felt so peaceful, the first true peace he'd had in his dreams. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them in surprise as a cool sensation fluttered across his cheek. Zim smiled at him once more, then faded away into the mists. Dib smiled, putting a hand to his cheek to make sure the kiss had been real, then drifted off into the first dreamless slumber he'd had in a long, long time.  
  
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A few lil quickie notes for individdies (like always! ^^):  
ArmAndLeg: I try, i really do... *snif* i hate you, school! you are the bane of my existance! yet you are also my inspiration! ARGH... stupid system... cute is good! ^_^ yay for cuteness and fluff!  
HMC: Yes, yes they are. They are VERY CUTE! ^-^ i wuv yu cuteness!  
PRHG: ahh, you can torture em later... i think they *will* be part of some future chapter, but then again, you never know... o0; i just go where the fic leads me...  
Rylyn: I love fluff, can ya tell yet? i think the best Z/D fics are the ones with non-graphicalness but lotsa cute fluff... awww on fluff... ^-^  
Diartemis: o0;; and here i thought i was doin good on da updatin! i hereby solemnly vow to try my absolute hardest to get at least one chapter up per week... more likely than not this will be on saturdays after the reruns/new eps of IZ... or whenever, ya know? but i will *try* not to leave you guys hangin too long... *is excited that she actually has people interested in her fic* yayness! ^_^ Fluffed like a sheep, Di, fluffed like a sheep! me n my sister do the dumb like a moose line all the time... teehee... ^_^  
Anyway, thank you all again for taking an interest in my lil ficcu and taking the time to reply... .^_^. you don't know how appreciated i feels... yaayy! ^-^ Peace out!  
~*~Celelorien~*~ 


	5. part B: The Morning After

Oooh, I so excited.. Went shopping today and got a trenchcoaty-looking thing that's really neat... and shoooz... i like mah nice shooz... anyway... yep yep yep, I've finally completed the next piece of mah fic for ya... ^_^ Fanki fanki to all you happy people who've responded... I really am trying to get this up fast... ah well... I hope ya likes this, it focuses mostly on Dib and Gaz... Cereal is good... yesss... ahem.. you all know the disclaimer drill: I don't own anyfing but the plot, and maybe not even that... maybe I'm being controlled by aliens who are feeding me the storyline subconsciously... o0; thaz a skeery thought... anyway, kudos to Jhonen Vasquez! He ruuuules! Yay on him for making IZ and JtHM! Oooh, and if you know where I can possibly get the JtHM comics, pleeaase inform me! ^_^; on wif da fic now!  
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Dib yawned, blinking sleepily as he stretched his arms. Fumbling for his glasses, he found them in their usual place on his nightstand. Pushing them onto his face, he blinked to clear his eyes. "Wait a minute, wasn't I downstairs?" he thought out loud, looking around at the familiar walls of his bedroom. He frowned, thinking back on his dreams for his answer... Zim had come into his dreams, saved him from himself... That must be it, Dib decided. /A favor returned.../ The words floated back through his memory. He smiled; Zim must have brought him back up to his room when he left.  
  
He ran a comb through his messy hair, and changed clothes from the ones he'd worn yesterday to an identical but clean set. Half-staggering downstairs, he poured himself a bowl of cereal, sloshed some milk on, and proceeded to have breakfast. He felt unusually rested, considering how late he'd fallen asleep. He'd been up for a long time, just thinking and listening to the steady tick-tock of the wall clock. When he had finally gotten to sleep, it had started out a nightmare. Zim had stopped that. He sighed, smiling softly, and deposited his empty bowl in the sink just as Gaz came down.  
  
"Zim likes you, you know," she said, pouring a bowl for herself.  
  
"No he doesn't, he just had a debt he felt he needed to repay," he protested. "That's all."  
  
"Sure, a debt. That's why he stopped your nightmare, took you upstairs to your bed, and didn't bother to destroy anything on his way out, among other things," she said snidely, chomping away at her cereal and pretending not to notice his blushing.  
  
"Gaz, if you ever..." he started, but she waved a hand at him dismissively.  
  
"I won't, unless you or Zim do something to seriously hack me off," she said, returning to her cereal.  
  
"Well... okay then... I'm leaving for skool now, Ms. Bitters said if I was late one more time this year I'd get detention for the rest of my life," he said, making a face. He started out the door, and Gaz opened an eye to watch him go.  
  
"If only you knew, big brother... If only you knew..." she mumbled, then deposited her own bowl in the sink and got ready to leave.  
  
*******  
  
Dib was actually smiling as he reached skool. This day had started off pretty good, and he wasn't feeling all that bad for once. The feeling of happiness slowly started bleeding away as he noticed two things: one, the doors to the skool were still locked, he was so early, and two: the jocks, bored with throwing a football around, had started eyeing him interestedly. /Ahh, crap.../ he thought, remembering not to say anything out loud. "Ah... hi. H-how are you guys?" he asked weakly, backing up slowly until he was trapped against the door. He mentally kicked himself for showing his fear; they loved the fear they invoked and would tear him apart at the seams for it.  
  
"Hey Dib, want to play a game?" one of them asked. Dib almost groaned as he recognized Torque.  
  
"Um... what kind of game?" Dib asked, reeaally hoping it wouldn't be one that involved himself as the utensil to be kicked around.  
  
"It's called Dib-ball. We kick the ball around. That's you, Dib!" Torque said, grinning. His moronic goons chuckled stupidly at the lame 'joke.'  
  
"I was afraid of that," Dib mumbled, and looked around for any way to escape. As they advanced on him, he flung himself to the side, leaping over the railing bordering the stairs and taking off running.  
  
"Get him!" yelled Torque. Dib didn't dare look back, he was afraid they might be gaining on him. They WERE jocks, after all, and half of them were on the football team. He launched himself towards a fairly low branch, hoping to avoid them as one might avoid a rhino. Almost... there... he thought, straining. His fingertips hit the branch, and then... a sudden weight on his legs brought him crashing down. True to his ability to play football, Torque had tackled him, bringing him down hard. Dib grunted as he hit the ground below. Torque stood over him, and soon he was surrounded by jocks all ready to play Dib-ball. Torque pulled him up by his collar, and slammed him against the tree. "Trying to leave so soon?" he asked, smiling wolfishly.  
  
"Please... just leave me alone..." Dib whispered, half to himself.  
  
"Aww look, the little wimp wants to be left alone... What do you think, guys?" Torque asked, grinning. They all shook their heads, and they started pummeling Dib, who sank to his knees in defeat. /There's no Zim to save me now, and this is reality, not a dream.../ Dib thought, trying to protect his face. It was so much like his dream, if only Zim would come...  
  
"What's going on?" a voice asked. Not Zim, but his sister.  
  
"Gaz, go away, don't get involved," he said, looking up to see her. She looked pretty angry by now.  
  
"No I will NOT go away. You leave my brother alone," she said, her fists clenching. She opened her eyes to give them a death glare, but being the idiots they were they didn't realize the peril they were in.  
  
"Oh look, his baby sister's gonna save him," Torque sneered. BIG mistake. Gaz marched right up to him, and delivered a really painful kick with her steel-toed boots where the sun don't shine. Torque squeaked and sank to his knees, doubled over in pain. She followed it with a nice roundhouse, knocking him to the ground. The other jocks as well as Dib stared at her in amazement. The rest of the jocks fled in terror as she turned to glare at them.  
  
"Come on Dib, let's get you inside," she said, pulling him to his feet and looping an arm around his shoulders.  
  
"Where did... how did you... what just happened?" he asked dazedly. She picked the lock on the door with a hairpin, and set him down against the lockers.  
  
"Come on, you don't think I played all those video games without ever learning a few tricks? I took karate in seventh grade, and just improved on it some," she said matter-of-factly, opening the nurse's office and using some of the liberated antiseptic on him, ignoring his slight hisses of pain as it stung. "Hold still," she commanded, applying more.  
  
"I'm fine, really, it's just a few cuts," he said, ducking away. "Thanks for saving me, though... You're not half bad for a little sister," he said, grinning at her.  
  
"Ah, don't go all mushy on me. Who else would I pick on if you weren't there?" she said, as close as she ever got to admitting she liked him. "Come on, we can go chill in the library until the school's open." They headed off for the library relatively quietly, exchanging insults every so often.  
  
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Otidoki, guess what happens now! No really, guess!! Three chances!!! Yup, it's individual noteses time! Also maybe some plot revealing, but we'll see about that... probably not... meeehh... whatever...  
PRHG: Teehee... don't trust those cafeteria hamburgers, they aren't really meat!! And never buy veggies from the nuclear plant, they glow in the dark... o0; skeery...  
ArmAndLeg: ^-^ Yee! I like the dream sequence too... maybe more dreams later? I dunno... i can't believe i wrote that while high on my Choco-Dew Brainfreezy! I'll put the recipe below... muahaha... caffiene and sugar: a fanfic writer's two best friends...  
Diartemis: Yay for any replies, even short ones! ^-^ I is reply-oriented, and I wuv yu all for replying at all! Hooraayy!!! And i've said it before and will say it again: fluff rules all!  
Kwee: Once I made a turkey noise at a turkey in the zoo and it got mad at me and tried to eat me... o0;; i'm serious... and turkey is tastee!! Is so yummy... yay for turkeys! teehee...  
Recipe for Choco-Dew Brainfreezies: Get a big bowl and fill it halfway with chocolate ice cream. Pour a can of Mountain Dew on it. ENJOY! ^_^; is a very simple recipe but it tastes sooo good... Now you must hit the reply button and give me your comments! *imitates Zim from 1st eppie* Gimme! ^_^ and pwease read my ZAGR fic too, Hunter... is a songfic!! Ohh, i stop shameless plugging now... I know I've said it before lots, but I SWEAR I will have pictures up SOON!!! SOOOOOON!!! *cough* anyway... bye!  
~*~Celelorien~*~ 


	6. Blossoming Friendships After Skool

Warning: Much Fluff Ahead... Perhaps you might even term it "lemony scented..." but nothing major, I promise... ^-^ *does a little angel face to hide her little devil horns* teehee...  
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RRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!  
  
Dib jerked awake, hastily wiping the drool off his desk. The skool day was finally over, the long lesson on doom ended. But now Dib had a new fear: what of Torque? His whole body still ached from the morning's thrashing. He hung back while the rest of them stampeded out the doors, until only he and Zim were left. Zim too had learned to wait rather than risk being trampled. "Dib? Something wrong?" he asked as they went out the now empty door.  
  
"Nothing... it's nothing," Dib replied, pulling at his trenchcoat sleeve nervously. There was a rather large bruise from that morning lurking just under his left wrist. Sensing something was amiss there, Zim grabbed his hand and pulled the sleeve back. His eyes narrowed as he saw the large purple blotch running halfway to Dib's elbow.  
  
"Bathroom. Now," Zim commanded, pulling him along. Dib protested weakly. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw Gaz, but if it was her, she didn't do anything to stop them. Zim hauled him into the boy's bathroom and let him go, folding his arms and glaring at him. "Trenchcoat off," he said shortly.  
  
"No, I'm fine, really," Dib said, moving towards the door. Zim stepped in between.  
  
"Take the trenchcoat off, or I'll take it off for you," he said softly, but his voice held an edge of steel. Dib sighed in defeat, and slid the large black coat off, folding it roughly a couple times before setting it on the sink counter. He looked at the ground, ashamed of the bruises and scars running up and down his arms. "Damn," Zim said softly. "Now the shirt, you're worse than I thought."  
  
"What?!" Dib yelped, aghast. "No way Zim, nuh uh... I'm FINE, this happens every so often, nothing major." Zim merely narrowed his eyes and stepped towards him. Dib backed away, his pupils contracting in fear. He felt something hard brush on his back, and looked behind him to see he was cornered. He looked back to see Zim about an inch from his face.  
  
"Shirt. NOW," Zim hissed. Dib whimpered slightly, then hesitantly started pulling it off, sucking in breath sharply each time it rubbed against a sore point. He handed it over to Zim's outstretched hand, and stood there shivering slightly. Zim folded it up and put it on top of the trenchcoat. He checked the door to make sure it was locked, and beckoned for Dib to come. Dib left the corner and stood before Zim, bowing his head in defeat. He twitched a little as a pair of slender green hands began pressing on his chest. He flinched whenever they touched on a bruise, but the smooth coolness of his fingers? claws? it didn't matter anymore - slid over his skin, pressing gently but firmly every so often. Dib let out a pained yelp as they pressed on a particularly large bruise. The hands instantly became gentler, soothing the hurt with their silken touch. They traveled around to his back, the thumbs pushing in what almost seemed to be a massage, working from just above his pants line up to his shoulder. Dib shivered a little from the strange but good sensation of touch, the kind of touch he'd never felt from anyone. The hands disappeared, and he looked up to see Zim pulling his gloves back on.  
  
"It's cold in here, don't you think?" he said weakly, thinking up a semi-plausible excuse for his shivering. Zim nodded, and Dib was surprised to see there was a pinkish hue around his cheeks. /Then again,/ he thought, /I've probably gone completely red./ Zim handed over his shirt and trenchcoat, and Dib put them on, half thankful and half sorry it had ended. "Well?" he asked, turning to Zim once the folds of his coat once again covered the marks on his arm.  
  
"Well, aside from a LOT of bruises and cuts, I think you have a couple cracked ribs. Nothing broken, but I'm sure you must be feeling incredibly sore," Zim said, smiling wryly at him. "I've half a mind to drag you to my house so we can run more analysis tests, but I won't if you don't want to. If Gir hasn't destroyed them yet, there might even be an available healing chamber that could fix your ribs." Dib thought on it for a minute, weighing the consequences. If he went, he would not only get to end his pain early, he would be close to Zim...  
  
"Okay... usually I have to go home and lie very still in my bed for the rest of the day, so getting fixed up at your place sounds good to me," Dib said, trying to make his voice sound light. That was a good part of why he wanted to go with him, but just being near Zim was so much more... He knew now, from his dream, that Zim was everything for him. Not just as a childhood obsession to reveal him to the world and vindicate himself, but something much deeper.  
  
"Okay. You want some help there?" Zim offered. Dib shook his head stubbornly.  
  
"No, I can walk," he said, walking towards the door to prove it. He tripped on a tile that was partially cracked and sticking up. A pair of slender arms caught him as he fell, and helped him right himself. He looked at Zim, who flushed slightly.  
  
"Don't need more bruises, now do you?" he said, looking away. Dib smiled and put a hand on his ex-enemy's shoulder.  
  
"Thanks. I can walk by myself, just stick close in case I fall again," he said. Zim nodded, meeting his gaze for a moment before turning away again. He fumbled with the lock for a minute, and they left the bathroom. They exited using the skool's back exit, which was closer to Zim's house anyway. They walked in silence, and Dib had no more accidents on the way there.  
  
Zim went ahead of him and opened the door, holding it open. Dib smiled gratefully. Stepping across the threshold of his door, though, his foot caught. He fell forward, his hands instinctively flying out to break his fall. They closed around Zim's torso, and he was astonished to feel how very thin he was. He looked up from his chest, and struggled not to laugh. Zim was stiff as a statue, staring at him, and his face had gone noticeably pink. Shaking his head slightly, Zim helped Dib up to his feet once more. "Really Dib, this is getting repetitive," he said, laughing as he shut the door. "OW!" he yelped as a large metal object collided with his waist.  
  
"Master! You home! And you brought Dib-human!" Gir said happily as he was pried off. He turned to Dib and grinned his goofy little grin. "Somebody needs a hug!" he announced, advancing towards him.  
  
"No Gir, Dib's hurt. You can't hug him yet," Zim said, picking the robot up. Gir's eyes flashed red as he saluted, then went back to blue.  
  
"Can I hug him later?" he asked wistfully. "I wanna turn all pink like you!" Zim blinked, then flushed again. "Yeah, like that!" Gir said excitedly.  
  
"That wasn't a hug, Dib fell and I happened to be in his way," he said defensively. "Now, answer me this: did you mess with anything in the lab today?" Gir thought for a minute (it looked like hard work) then shook his head no. "Good. Come on Dib, let's get you to the medical level," Zim said, leading him over to the couch. It folded up to reveal an elevator. They stepped on. "Computer, take us to the medical level," Zim barked. It started moving, and Dib looked down impressed.  
  
"Is your whole house a computer?" he asked interestedly. Zim nodded. They descended, and he put a hand out to grab Zim's arm before he fell as it came to a jerking stop.  
  
"I really need to get that fixed," Zim said, glaring at the elevator in annoyance, as if blaming it for making him blush again. He led Dib over to what looked like a containment chamber. "Step inside, it'll only take a minute to get you tested. I promise, it doesn't hurt," he said reassuringly. Dib nodded, and stepped in. Zim shut the clear door, and went to his computer console. He typed quickly, strange looking letters on the keys. Dib looked up to see a large metal ring coming down around the glass-like chamber. Green light shined from a slit all the way around the inside, and slowly went down to his toes then back up.  
  
"Processing... PROCESSING!" the computer said, and lots of the little symbol letters flashed across the screen in rapid succession. Zim watched them intently, Dib guessed it was his own language. He sighed, and tapped a few more buttons, then came over to the chamber and opened the door.  
  
"Come on, looks like I was mostly right. One cracked rib and a number of bruised ones. I swear, for such a big head you must have an awfully tough one too. How you didn't get a concussion is beyond me," Zim said, tsking in dismay. "Come on, let's get you in the healing gel." He led an unprotesting Dib off to another section of the medical area. Dib looked around interestedly, everything was so amazing in here. It was almost nuts what Zim had managed to put together out of such 'inferior' materials. Zim tapped a few buttons on a keypad by a door, and it slid open to reveal what looked an awful lot like a shower stall with a little shelf. "Step inside, strip, and put your clothes on the shelf. Then you press the red button, then the blue to activate the gel. When you're done, press the same button to turn it off, and then the purple button to rinse. Then you press the yellow button, and I'll deliver towels and your clothes via the shelf, okay?"  
  
Dib nodded mutely, trying to remember it all. "Why are you doing this for me anyway?" he asked suddenly; the question had been burning in his mind. "Why do you even care?"  
  
"Well, how are you supposed to help me extract my revenge on the Tallests if you're all messed up?" Zim asked practically, though he knew that his reasons went deeper than that. He was afraid of rejection, though, afraid of being laughed at and cast out like he had so many times before. "Now I don't want you out of the shower until nothing hurts when you push. Okay?"  
  
"Okay," Dib replied, nodding. He stepped inside, and the door slid shut, leaving him alone in the white walled chamber. He took off his clothes as commanded, and put them on the shelf. /Which button, which button?/ he thought, thinking. /Ah yes./ He pressed the red button, and the shelf rotated until the walls were completely smooth, the shelf having been transferred to the other side. He pushed the blue button, and a dark green liquid began to ooze from the ceiling in long columns. Curious, he put a hand out to touch one as it came down. It pooled in his hand, then slid down his arm. He almost gasped at how cool it was, how it eased away the hurt. Almost like Zim... Dib smiled slightly, recalling the smooth silken feel of Zim's hands on his chest. He sighed sadly then, he would never be able to confess to Zim how he felt... He was terrified of finding rejection there, of being pushed away by the one thing he needed most. Sure Zim blushed whenever they made contact, but supposing that was just an alien way of showing annoyance? He stood quietly in the shower, reflecting on his sad thoughts, wishing the olive strands of gel enveloping him were Zim's comforting arms.  
  
*****  
  
Once the little light blinked on that indicated the healing gel was coming out, Zim gathered up Dib's clothes from the shelf and deposited them in the clothes washer. He waited around for a bit, then went to go see what Gir was up to.  
  
"Hi master!" Gir yelled as soon as he appeared. "I'm makin biscuits!"  
  
"Sounds like fun, how do you do it?" Zim asked, figuring he might as well do something to kill some time.  
  
"We follow da directions on da box, then add what we want!" Gir said, handing him a box of mix stuff. Zim looked at the instructions, then at the bowl Gir was stirring vigorously.  
  
"Wow, that looks pretty close to what it should be!" Zim said, smiling at the cute little robot. Gir gave him a grin, and kept stirring. "What kind of biscuits did you have in mind?"  
  
"I like sprinkles! The little round kind is soo good! And cinnamon! Cinnamon biscuits are goood... I can cook when I wanna!" Gir said, snagging the little container of round sprinkle balls. He shook it over the biscuit mix, and stirred it all up. Zim offered the cinnamon, and Gir gave him a teaspoon. "Just one now, or it'll burn and taste funny," Gir cautioned. Zim nodded solemnly, trying to keep a straight face, and put in a teaspoon of cinnamon. He had his doubts about this whole biscuit thing, but he figured it was worth a try. Gir pulled out a small piece of dough, and stuck in on a pan.  
  
"Whatcha doin now?" Zim asked, watching him repeat this curiously.  
  
"Gotta put it on da paaan, so it'll bake and make bicuiits! We're makin biscuits! We're makin biscuiiiits..." Gir said excitedly. Zim smiled at him, and started helping, laying his gloves off to one side so they didn't get all biscuity. When all the dough was in little mounds on the pan, Gir stuck it in the oven and turned it on. "Now we just gotta wait!" Gir said cheerfully, giving Zim the victory sign with his hand. At least, that's what he thought it was; Gir only had two digits anyway. A beep sounded from his glove, and he put them on after washing his hands with cleansing gel.  
  
"Gotta go, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes and we'll try those biscuits," Zim said. Gir nodded, and sat in front of the oven to watch the biscuits bake. Zim went back to the medical bay, and pulled Dib's clothes out of the washer, all fresh and clean. The washer dried clothes too, so he didn't have to hassle with putting them in a whole separate drying machine. He snorted; humans were so simple sometimes. Imagine having two separate objects to wash and dry clothes! It was ridiculous! A little yellow light flashed from the wrist of his glove, and he snagged some towels on the way to the healing gel stall. He placed the clean clothes and towels on the shelf, and pressed the red button to make the shelf revolve around. A few minutes later Dib came out of the stall, rubbing at his hair irritatedly with a towel.  
  
"Stupid hair, why won't you ever function?" he growled, then gave up. The result was a rather silly looking hairdo, and Zim had to fight hard not to laugh. His scythe had little pieces sticking out, and the familiar triangular shape to his hair was more rounded and sticking up in odd places.  
  
"Come on, we made biscuits.. Or what I THINK are biscuits anyway," Zim amended, grinning at Dib.  
  
"We? As in you and Gir? Are they actually safe for consumption?" Dib asked jokingly, grinning back. Zim nodded.  
  
"Nobody's died yet, but then again, nobody's tried em," Zim said solemnly, then started laughing. Dib cracked up too, and before they knew it they were both out of breath and gasping for air, leaning on each other for support. "Come on, earth monkey, let's go try those biscuits," Zim said, looping an arm around Dib's shoulder companionably.  
  
"Sure alien scum, but you have to try them too," Dib agreed, putting his arm around Zim's shoulders. The two headed upstairs, laughing all the way for no particular reason at all.  
  
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*does a lil song and dance routine* it's individual note time, yeah yeah yeah, individdie noootes! Let's do the separate people's notes! Lalalalalalalaa... Um... *cough* whatever... riight... ^_^ I love you all for replying! Notes to ya! YAY FOR NOTES! *cough* kay... moving on...  
ArmAndLeg: ^__^ Yes, choco-dew is good... choco-dew is very good... it's probably better with not-month-expired chocolate ice cream though... o0; that's the only kind of icecream we had in our freezer at the time, so i figured might as well.. i'm not dead yet so it was safe! ^_^ now we have choco chip cooki dough, gonna hafta try that... mmm...  
Rylyn: I liked the dream too, and chapter five was pretty awesome... but I think my personal favorite NOW is this one! meeheeheehee.. i think i'll just skip five and call this six, as the dream was all split up into two parts.. meh... and jocks are definitely evil... foo... and you can ALWAYS ask for more! Teehee!  
Goddess: ^-^ *Gir voice* I like you... teehee... remember people, no matter how silly your reviews sound or how short they are, I STILL WANT EM! ^_^ I WUV REVIEWS!!  
Diartemis: Muahahaha... Doncha love it when Gaz goes and beats peoples up? Muahahahaha... Gaz is so awesome! YEE!  
PRHG: Teehee... they do make lovely nightlights, but I stopped using them after my cat went all weird from the radiation... kinda dangerous if ya don't put em in somethin radioactive-resistant but clear... heh... and the Tallests aren't skeered of the dark, they have each other! ^-^ did I mention i was also a P/R yaoi fan? I dunno that I'd ever be able to write a good fic about em though... meh, we'll see, I didn't think I could write decent ZAGR either... then again, I don't know as 'Hunter' qualifies as decent... o0;; oh well!  
Stopping the shameless plugging now, I have news that will shock and amaze you! Or maybe just shock you... I HAVE A PICCHA OF ZIM AND GIR OLDER UP! *people have heart attacks and die* yes yes, after much procrastination, I present... THE LINK!!!  
http://www.side7.com/cgi-bin/S7SDB/DisplayImg.pl?INO=120699  
Innit favulous? No not really you say? Well FOO ON YOU THEN! For those of you who liked it... YAY! ^-^ i wuv yu... anyway, peace out and write on, mah bruthas an sistas!! o0; don't ask, i don't know... teehee...  
~*~Celelorien~*~ 


	7. Of Movies and Dreams

Quickee Note: This is also a chapter of much fluff, especially towards the end... lemony scented too! But like before, nothing too bad... ^_~ yay for cute yaoi! And if you're a yaoi-hater, i'm really wondering how you got this far... but you should definitely turn back now! Or if you think Titanic is the best movie ever... cause there's some mild Titanic-bashing... just a little... i've never actually seen it, but it had Leonardo DiCaprio, so.. pthh... anyway, i know you've all keeled over either from shock that the new one's up so fast or from boredom at my long yammering, so i'll shut up now...  
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Gir gave them a quick grin, then returned to watching the biscuits bake as they arrived. A buzzer sounded from the oven, and Gir squealed delightedly. "Da biscuits is dooone!" Gir yelled, and opened up the oven. He pulled the pan out, and set it on the stove's top to cool. "Now we gotta wait till they aren't so hot, and then we get ta eat em!" he said, giving them all a big grin and another victory sign. "Can we watch a movie till then?" he asked.  
  
"Sure, I don't see why not," Zim said, shrugging.  
  
"Okay by me," Dib agreed. Gir squealed with joy and went off to find his desired movie. They all trooped out to the couch and sat down. Gir came back and popped the tape in. Soon the horrifyingly familiar intro started.  
  
"Gir... you didn't..." Zim started, then moaned as the title came up and his fears were proven correct. Gir shushed him.  
  
"Titanic?? You picked Titanic?" Dib asked incredulously, then shook his head. "Never seen it, but it hasn't exactly gotten the best of reviews from Gaz."  
  
"Believe me, you haven't missed a thing," Zim said dully, but Gir wouldn't let them switch so they sat back and tried to endure.  
  
About an hour into the movie, Zim's head started nodding. /This is more boring than Ms. Bitters's class.../ he thought sleepily. His head drifted backwards slowly, until it was fully resting on the back of the couch. /Must... stay... awake.../ he thought, turning his head to see Dib for just a moment before dozing off.  
  
Dib watched Gir, not the movie. Occasionally the little robot would mouth the words along with the actors, and even pantomimed it with them. He guessed that Zim had been forced to sit through it far too often for his liking. Speaking of Zim... He glanced over, and smiled as he watched Zim fight to stay awake, eventually surrendering to his dreams. Checking to make sure Gir was intent on the movie, not him, he slowly scooted over and brushed his lips against Zim's. The alien smiled slightly, and shifted. His head slid off the back of the couch, resting on Dib's shoulder instead. Dib froze; he didn't want to move him, that might wake him up. Still... Dib sighed slightly, and smiled. Carefully, so as not to wake Zim, he lowered his head to lay atop Zim's, closing his eyes and letting sleep take him as well.  
  
Gir looked over his shoulder as the first tape ended to see if it had worked. He grinned; Master and Dib were leaning against each other. He went very quietly to get a blanket and spread it over the two sleepers. He turned off the TV and tiptoed out of the room. He crept upstairs to the attic, grabbing his dog suit on the way, and from there climbed on the roof, silent as a cat. He turned on a little watch communicator, and spoke into it. "You was right, they asleep now. I supposed to be very quiet now, right?" he asked, whispering. The figure in the screen nodded.  
  
"You can come to my house and we'll hang out, since they need to sleep," the shadowed one said. Gir nodded, then flipped the head of the dog suit up before jumping off and walking down the street. When he arrived at his destination, the door opened to reveal a purple haired teenager with a skull pendant. "Come on in Gir, and let's have some pizza," Gaz said, smiling warmly (or as warmly as she got) at the little guy.  
  
"Okay!" he chirped, coming inside. The duo had a fun time eating pizza and after that, playing video games. Gaz won the combat games easily, although she had to admit Gir was pretty funny with his running around and kicking and jumping randomly, occasionally making a decent move. She was surprised, however, when he got pretty close to beating her on Mario Kart. He was only about a minute behind, which wasn't all that far when you consider he was playing against Gaz.  
  
Around ten-thirty, Gaz bid farewell to her little green friend. (A/N: skool got out at 4:40, the healing dealy took until 6, and the part of Titanic they watched took until around 7:50ish) Gir waved goodbye cheerfully, and skipped home, stopping at the 24/7 store for a brainfreezy. Slurping on his chocolate bubble gum, he entered the living room to find them still asleep. He figured he better let them sleep, and went to go enjoy a biscuit and watch the Scary Monkey Show downstairs in the lab on the big screen.  
  
*****  
  
Zim slowly faded into consciousness. The first thing he felt was that he was very warm, in a good way though, like he felt safe. The warmth spread all along his thigh and side, and on his head and hand. The second thing was that there was slight pressure on his head and he couldn't feel his antennae anymore. The third thing was that whatever was on him was alive. He opened his eyes cautiously, and blinked in shock a couple times. Dib's hand rested on his, Dib's leg was against his, Dib was leaning against him, and Dib's head was resting on his. He bit down the urge to shout, Dib looked so content and happy. A small smiled rested on his lips, and his glasses were all skewed. He certainly didn't remember leaning against Dib, but he decided that he rather liked being so close. He shut his eyes, and waited for Dib to wake up. As he waited, he replayed the odd dream he'd had...  
  
He'd been running, running as fast as he could go, but still they pursued him. Giant beings, taller than trees, looming up wherever he went, laughing cruelly. He was nearing the edge of a cliff, at the bottom of which lay the ocean. Desperate for an end to the mocking laughter, he leaped off. Falling, falling... he fell for so long.. A warm breeze blew on him, brushing around him, giving him a strange feeling, but not an unwelcome one. Wings sprouted from his back, the large feathers gleaming an iridescent ebony black. He unfolded his wings and flew, one powerful downbeat ending the freefall and turning it into a dive. Spreading them wide to catch the wind, he skimmed the ocean's surface and did not burn. The waves rippled out in a V-line behind him, and he laughed in the sheer joy of it all. He adjusted his wings and soared up, over the clouds. He flew on, reveling in the sunshine's warmth around him. He flew back down below the clouds, and found Dib flying there. Dib's wings were dull and warped, many of the dark forest green feathers gone. Still he flew on, and waved to Zim. /Let me help you,/ Zim thought, and flew over Dib, catching him in his arms and helping him go higher. Together they burst above the clouds once more, and as they flew Dib's wings grew stronger. Once twisted and mangled looking, they became as shiny and straight as Zim's. He spread his restored wings wide and flew on his own, but he stayed beside Zim. Neither one ahead, and neither behind, they flew on towards the horizon, until they disappeared into the sunrise.  
  
The pressure on his head lifted slowly, and Zim figured Dib must have awakened. Still... he was curious as to Dib's reaction, so he kept his eyes shut and feigned sleep.  
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Dib woke slowly, blinking to clear the fogginess from his eyes. His glasses were still on, and he was still leaned against Zim. He smiled as he remembered his dream: he'd had a Mom-memory, of Christmas by the fire, but he had not had to live through her death again. With Zim by his side, nothing bad had infiltrated his mind to try to shred him to bits. Lifting his head slowly so as not to disturb Zim, he watched him breathe for a minute, then sighed happily. If only time would stop, and they could lay like this forever. Zim's warm body was pressed gently against his own, and Dib noticed that his hand had covered Zim's in his sleep. Looking at Zim's face, perfect and beautiful, he lifted his hand and ran his finger down his cheek, smiling. He took Zim's chin in his hand and lifted his head up, and bent down to give him one last kiss before he would awaken. When it ended and he opened his eyes, he was startled to see a pair of deep red ones looking back at him. There was no anger or disgust, though, merely awe and a sense of wonder. "You were awake?" Dib asked, his voice a whisper.  
  
"Yes... Can we do that again? It was very nice," Zim replied quietly, his eyes hopeful as he smiled slightly. Dib smiled back, though he felt more like shouting in sheer joy. Zim loved him back, he wouldn't need to fear rejection!  
  
"Yes, we can do that again," Dib said, and their lips met once more. They stayed locked in their embrace until they were dizzy, coming up for air. "Has anyone ever told you you're one hell of a kisser?" Dib asked, gasping in breath.  
  
"No," Zim replied, equally winded.  
  
"Good," Dib said, and Zim looked at him funny. "I'd hate it if there had been others," he explained, grinning.  
  
"Have you ever had any others?" Zim asked. Dib laughed.  
  
"Me? As if. Aside from the fact I'm... well.. not exactly straight, no girl in her right mind would ever go out with me, and no guy either," he said.  
  
"I must be as crazy as Gir then, but I think I rather like insanity," Zim said, stopping any further comments from Dib with his mouth. Startled by Zim's reaction, Dib fell back, then abandoned himself to the green one's ministrations, responding with all his heart and soul, his mind blown away by the tidal wave of emotions he was feeling.  
  
As for Zim, he was acting purely on two things: one, that kissing Dib felt incredibly right, and two, that he wanted to stay this way forever, never knowing any more pain, just sheer bliss. Every cell in him seemed electrified, charged with pure energy. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the last bit of conscious thought he had was occupied with shouting that he was in love and that was perfectly fine by him.  
  
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Be amazed, be very amazed! I actually have a picture to show you for this chapter too!! And it's completely fic related, it's a scene from Zim's dream! Yaay! I didn't color it in lame old Paint either this time, so it looks pretty awesome in my opinion... yeessss... please leave your comments on mah piccha either there or in your review! Because you will review, right? YOU HAD BETTER! ... eh heh heh heh... umm... yeah... here's the link:  
http://www.side7.com/cgi-bin/S7SDB/DisplayImg.pl?INO=122530  
And as for individual notes to the people who luv me enough to check back every so often....  
ArmAndLeg: Is that together enough for ya? ^___^  
PRHG: ....oo; okay... poor Purple.. heh..  
Sen: Squee! new reader! ^_^ anyway, thanks for reading, and yess, there will be much more... muahahahaha... 


	8. More Movies, Songs, and the Ray of DOOM

Does nobody care about my pictures? *snif* You know, you can find out some serious info on future chaps just from the stuff I put up there! Like you can make a decent guess on where my mind's headed with this new chapter, but nooo, nobody seems to care... *sniffle* Sorry it took me forever and a day to get this chapter up, skool is being an absolute pain and i'm having issues in my life... nnk... anyway, as a sort of apology, this chapter's a bit longer than the others. I was tempted to cut off the last paragraph, but I decided that you'd figure it out anyway, so I left it as it was...  
Warnings: If you haven't figured it out yet, you're a twit. Much ZADR fluff. Besides that, there's a bit of songfic in it. And some other stuff. Stuff is good. Now read the story. Why are you still reading this lame excuse of a warning? Move on to the fic already! Jeez...  
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Gaz grinned to herself as she peered in the window, noting the face fest. /A job well done,/ she thought smugly to herself, and went back to her house. Gir was watching *really* old tapes of Barney. Gaz shuddered to herself, disgusted. "Come on Gir, I'll show you a real movie," she said, pulling out "Flight of the Navigator." It was a pretty good old movie, and the only one that didn't have either horrifying kid stuff, boring science lectures, or Mysterious Mysteries episodes. They slid it into the VCR, and Gir munched on unpopped popcorn cheerfully as they watched. Almost all their movies revolved around science or aliens, as Dib and her father were mostly the ones who'd bought them in the first place. The video game collection in Gaz's room was quite extensive however, so she'd never seen a need to watch movies. "Why watch it when you can do it" was one of her favorite philosophies.  
  
After the movie was over, Gir offered her some biscuits he'd been storing in his head. "Come on try one, they good!" he said, grinning. Gaz bit into one cautiously, pleasantly surprised to find that not only was it edible, it tasted pretty good. They enjoyed the biscuits in relative silence, saving two for Dib and Zim. Gaz checked her watch to see what time it was.  
  
"Come on, let's go. They should be done by now," she commented, standing up. Seeing it was starting to rain outside, she put on her dark purple raincoat and grabbed the matching umbrella. Gir took her hand and skipped alongside her joyfully. When they arrived, she knocked on the door fairly loudly. There was no answer. Gaz sighed, then knocked again, even louder. Still no answer. She took out her skool ID card and used it to unlock the door. She opened it and dragged Gir inside, ignoring his protests that she was making him lose the staring contest with Mr. Lawn Gnome. She stopped short and clamped a hand over Gir's mouth, staring at the couch. Zim and her brother were fast asleep, their arms loosely encircling one another. "They must be really out of it not to have heard me from such a short distance," she grumbled. Still, she knew her brother rarely got any sleep... Dib usually went to bed at midnight and woke up at three forty all but screaming. She took Gir by the black synthetic paw and went to the kitchen. "Let's make some more of those biscuits, whaddya say?" she said, hoping cooking was generally a quiet occupation. Gir nodded happily, and went to fetch the baking mix. Gaz decided if they could sleep through her knocking, she could turn the radio on. She flipped it on, and the two began reconstructing the biscuit recipe from before.  
  
*******  
  
Dib woke slowly, a little disoriented. He blinked a couple times, and noted that he was still on Zim's couch, holding the alien in his arms. Strains of music floated through the doorway to the kitchen. He listened to it, smiling as he recognized the song.  
  
/Good morning, beautiful, how was your night?/  
/Mine was wonderful with you by my side. When I/  
/Open my eyes to see your sweet face/  
/It's a good mornin beautiful day./  
  
He kissed Zim's forehead softly, thinking how true the song was. Zim was so beautiful, beautiful and precious to him. His life had already started getting better now that he'd finally admitted to Zim (and himself) his true feelings.  
  
/I couldn't see the light, I didn't know day from night./  
/I had no reason to care./  
/But since you came along, I can face the dawn/  
/'Cause I know you'll be there./  
  
He smiled to himself as the chorus started again. He /had/ been unable to see the light, and days and nights had been the same.. Merely nightmares, either waking or asleep, that plagued him whether he was out or not. He'd been able to sleep peacefully for the first time in a long time the past two nights, something that had left him when his mom died. Since he was an eidetic, he remembered just about everything from his past. That was why the dreams could come at him with such viciousness, such vividness. The pain he felt, remembered though it was, still hurt just as much. He smiled fondly at Zim, watching the little stirrings that meant he was waking up.  
  
Zim blinked awake slowly, and smiled up at Dib. He was so comfortable in his arms. His antennae perked a little, noting a song playing in the background.  
  
/I never worry/  
/If it's rainin outside/  
/'Cause in here with you girl/  
/The sun always shines./  
  
/Good mornin beautiful, how was your night?/  
/Mine was wonderful with you by my side. When I/  
/Open my eyes to see your sweet face/  
/It's a good mornin beautiful day./  
  
Zim smiled at the lyrics. "So true," he murmured, cuddling up against Dib. He could hear the raindrops splattering against the window, but he felt surprisingly safe even though he hadn't bathed in paste. "Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful, Dib?" he asked.  
  
"Nope... been called an awful lot of things, but never beautiful," he said, smiling.  
  
"Well, I'll say it then. Dib, you are one hundred percent beautiful," Zim said, tilting his head up to look into his eyes. Dib blushed.  
  
"You too, Zim. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and probably ever will," he said softly, kissing Zim's forehead lightly. It was Zim's turn to blush, and the pink on green made an interesting contrast. The radio DJ was cut off in the middle of announcing the next song, and an all-too-familiar voice spoke up from the kitchen.  
  
"If you two are done being all mushy and sentimental, the biscuits are ready," Gaz said, seemingly ignoring the fact that they were both blushing bright pink now. "This is the new batch, Gir and me ate the others already. You'd be surprised at how well he can cook sometimes." They separated sheepishly, but taking their time about it. They were a little embarrased at having been seen by Gaz of all people, yet they didn't want to break their little bubble of happiness. Dib took Zim's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Zim smiled at him, and they headed for the kitchen.  
  
"It's about time," Gaz grumbled as they arrived, setting down the plate of still warm biscuits. They all ate in relative silence, Gaz playing her Gameslave as she nibbled on one, Gir concealing them away in his head and then taking them out and eating them noisily, and Dib and Zim exchanging quick glances and holding hands under the table. Now that they had finally figured things out they were almost afraid to let go, as if they might lose their fragile love when they lost contact. When all the biscuits were gone (the majority having gone to Gir) Gaz yawned and clicked off her Game Slave after she saved. "Well, it's been a fun Saturday afternoon, but I think it's time to go, Dib. You've been here long enough, and you won't melt if you two are separated for a while." She stood and started out, grabbing her raincoat and umbrella as she went. Dib lingered just long enough to give Zim one last kiss on the forehead as he stood, then followed his sister. Zim walked with them to the door and stood leaning against the doorframe, waving as he watched them go. Dib, under the safety of Gaz's purple umbrella, waved back. Zim smiled and watched until they rounded the bend, then went back inside. He leaned against the door, just smiling. Gir bounded up, holding up a box.  
  
"Can we watch this movie?!" Gir asked, grinning.  
  
"Is it Titanic?" Zim asked warily, though somehow he didn't think he'd mind so much anymore. Gir shook his head rapidly, the loose objects and some biscuit crumbs rattling around inside. "What is it then?" he pressed.  
  
"I dunnooooo," Gir replied, grinning.  
  
"Well... okay. Let's see if it's any good then," Zim said. Gir slid the tape into the TV's slot and joined Zim on the couch. The title screen came up, lilting music in the background. "Far and Away, huh? Wonder what it's about," Zim mumbled to himself.  
  
"Shh!" Gir said, then turned back to the TV. Zim quieted, and sat back to enjoy the movie. He was unusually attentive during the movie; he cried at the sad parts and snickered to himself at the funny parts. He was grinning with tears in his eyes as the movie ended and the credits began.  
  
"Gir, I think that was the best movie you've ever shown," he said, smiling at the little robot as he wiped his eyes. No response. "Gir?" he queried, looking at the silvery form beside him. He was fast asleep, clutching a rubber pig protectively. Zim smiled and drew the blanket up over the little robot, then headed down to his lab to begin work on his newest project - a switching device he'd ordered from Call Nowia and was modifying for his own purposes. It had originally been a Gender-Bender 3000, which could change the gender of something alive and was often used to un-fix pets. He was trying to get it to become a body-switcher, where one could swap minds. The possibilities for conquest with this method were endless! They had had a body-switcher for sale, but the gender changer was a lot cheaper, so Zim figured he would save the money and use his brilliant brains to make it serve his purposes. Even though he was banished, he figured he could still take over Earth. They were just begging for punishment anyway, from what Zim had seen of what they'd done to the environment and regularly did to Dib. He grinned; he had a new reason to fight. A small tapping noise behind him alerted him, and he turned to see Gir standing there tapping the glass container with a chicken in it.  
  
"What's this doo?" Gir asked, looking at the shiny red button in front of him. Zim put the gender gun down, and rushed to snatch the little robot up before he could touch it.  
  
"Do not press that button, this chicken is for testing the mind swap gun out, not shooting into the sun," he said sternly. He put Gir down, who promptly ran off screaming about tacos and sun chickens. Zim studied the chicken in the container, who was clucking nervously and looking for any possible means of escape. "I don't know, the sun experiment wasn't a complete failure. Maybe I should run a few more diagnostics," he said to himself, his finger inching towards the button. A loud voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"WHAT'S THIS DO?!" Gir screeched excitedly, looking down the nozzle of the gender gun.  
  
"GIR! NOO!!" Zim yelled, diving for him. It was too late though, and the bright blue ray shot out at Gir, reflected off his metal body, and hit Zim square in the forehead. The next thing Zim knew was darkness...  
  
*********  
  
"Nnnnngh... wha happened?" Zim asked groggily. His voice sounded funny, and he felt different.  
  
"MASTER!! You're alive!" Gir squealed, snatching up his hand in a hug of doom. Zim could feel his circulation cutting off. He shook Gir off gently, sitting up. Something was not quite right... What was the last thing that had happened? He blinked and tried to concentrate. Gir holding the gun... blue beam... a pain in his forehead, then blackness... He stood shakily, leaning against the computer for support. "Oooh, Master's all prettyful!" Gir said, beaming up at him.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Zim snapped back. /My voice... it's all high... and... feminine?!/ "Oh nooo!" he moaned. "Gir, do you have a mirror?" Gir opened up the storage space inside his head and rummaged around, then pulled out a compact mirror with all the powder gone. Zim opened it up, and held it up to view himself. The resultant scream of horror reverberated for miles around, shattering a few inferior human windows from its intensity. A very angry, very female Zim advanced on Gir, claws ready to tear him into little pieces. Gir gulped, and backed up rather quickly. Zim froze, seeing the look of absolute terror on Gir's face. A new sensation washed over her. /Am I feeling... guilt?/ she wondered. Sighing, she reached down to pick Gir up. "I'm sorry, but that was very bad of you to do, Gir. You KNOW not to mess with my stuff unless I say it's okay!" she said, staring into the little robot's eyes with disapproval. "Now go... I dunno... watch TV. Just stay out of the labs, kay?" She set him down and he nodded, saluting her as his eyes flashed red, then wandered off to go watch the Scary Monkey Show.  
  
Zim looked around for the gun, and groaned when she saw it was smashed to bits. "I must've landed on it when I blacked out," she thought out loud. Looking up at the digital clock on the wall, she suddenly felt very tired. The past day's events had begun to catch up to her, so even though it was only 9:30 pm she decided to head for her couch-chair thingy. Flopping back onto its soft red fabric, she drifted off into sleep, her last conscious thought being, /I wonder what Dib will think.../  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
A little note about the couch-chair thingy... you know in the ep Bestest Friends where he's lying on the big red chair thing? That serves as a bed as well. Oh yeah, a couple extra disclaimers... I don't own rights to "Titanic" *shudders* as if I'd want to... and I don't own rights to either "Flight of the Navigator" or "Far and Away." I do have all three movies, and I really think everyone should go watch "Far and Away" right now because it's a really good movie... I flipped to she/her in the last two paragraphs, it's talking about Zim for all you easily confused people like me out there. It got annoying typing s/he and him/her, so I just picked the form. On a totally unrelated note, you should also go watch "All Quiet On The Western Front" (the color version). That's a great movie too. Kinda long, but awesome. We watched it in world history. I really like that movie. Anyway. Righty-o, time for individual notes for all you people that love me! ^_^  
ArmAndLeg: ^_^ Yes, rabid fangirldom is awesome. I like togetherness. Too bad it's not a sensation I've ever experienced before. Nyik. Oh well. There will be more happy fluffy Zim and Dib togetherness coming soon! Or as soon as I can... @_@... only 20 days left... just gotta survive these last days... nnnk...  
PRHG: I dunnoooo... they probably will, considering Zim and Dib's bargain... nihihihii... VENGEANCE IS NICE!! o0; erm... heheh... *cough* I was thinking of doing a totally separate Tallests fic, yes CRINGE in HORROR! It will probably be a before-they-were-Tallests fic, like so many others... heh... but not at ALL conventional... muahahahahahaaa..... Give me feedback on if you'd like ta see that! THAT APPLIES TO ALL OF YOU! ^_^  
Mistah E: ^-^! Yay! New person! I like this fic too, it's probably the first one to ever get much success that I've written... nyik... Zim and Dib ARE an incredibly cute couple though... i love Zim/Dib, i love it gooood...  
Rylyn: Aie.. I sorry for you... ^_^ Go watch Flight of the Navigator or Far and Away! Those are GOOD! And it's okay, I had a sudden bout of inspiration that's kinda been lacking for the past week... sorry!! ^_^;; but there's the new one, hope yas enjoyed it!  
C-W: *showers her with yummy candy* Yay candy!! Nothing like a sugar high to get the fic juices flowing... unless you've just been informed of some SERIOUSLY FUNNY stuff! *snickers* OPIUM BAGELSS!!! XD Don't eat poppyseed bagels and take a drug test cause you'll get tested positive for opium, because they make opium out of poppyseeds... 'I swear, it was just my breakfast!' 'You have opium for breakfast??' 'Curse you drugged bagel! Curse yoou!'  
B.O.W.N.: ^-^ Goo is fuuuuunnnnn... I like goo! Plus there's happy healing goo that fixes alll Dib's paaiiins... well maybe not all, but Zim fixed the other hurt... ^_~  
Parker: I dunno, it might turn angsty later on... pth... there's only been a Friday evening and a Saturday that they've been together, they haven't had to go back to skool yet... hmmm... yes.... I'm feeling there will probably be angst later on... muahaha... of course, the angst will be surrounded by fluff n stuff, but that's okay. Angsty fluff is fun... I like reading angst too, it really connects sometimes.  
Rain: Yee! I'll have to check it out! ^_^ I so glad you popped in on my little fic, thanks for leaving such a happy comment! ^_____^ it's nice to know my story's actually useful! LAUNDRY! ^__^; sorry, old reference... meeheehee... be sure to check back sometime, I might have a new chapter up within a week this time... , 


	9. Showers and Slashiness and Stuff, Oh My!

Yeee, another chapter from me... and i didn't get any feedback on that whole Tallest fic issue! *snifs* Oh well, maybe i just won't write it... probably not until I either finish this or get slapped upside the head with inspiration. nyik. oh well. You know the disclaimer drill, nothing's mine... foo! i can never write original stuff, it's alway fanfiction... but i *like* fanfiction. so there! meeh!!! ^__^; now that that's out of the way...  
  
Warnings: hmm, let's see... slash, slash, and more slash! implied lemony stuff, but nothin explicit... a couple stupid explanations of how I see things in the Zimmy-world, ya don't hafta agree... wait is that even a warning? oh who cares... lots and lots of fluffy and lemony-scented stuff, and in the same vein, a whole lot of ooc-ness... oh yeah, and all the yaoi-ers who think Dib should be gay, I sorry... *snif* don't hate mee! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!! of stuff.. that... might not actually need warnings... and the stuff... that does? oh i don't even care anymore! just read it!! *goes off to sulk*  
  
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Zim yawned sleepily as he stretched, swinging his legs over the side of the couch-chair and sitting up. He'd had the wierdest dream... He had been shot by the gender changing gun because of Gir, and been changed to a female... He trudged to the bathroom and started brushing his teeth, still half-asleep. He looked blearily up at his reflection, then dropped his toothbrush and nearly choked on toothpaste. It HADN'T been a dream after all! She bit down a scream of disbelief, and sighed in resignation. She winced slightly as she did; her shirt was just a little tight now and it was making it hard to breathe. "Elevator, take me to the house level," she said tentatively, stepping onto the elevator. She breathed a sigh of relief as it complied; she'd been worried it wouldn't recognize her voice, changed as it was. She stepped out of the toilet as she arrived, snatching a piece of toast as she headed for her house bedroom to change. She couldn't find any shirts that fit comfortably (as they were all the same) so she just left it off and put her black vest on.  
  
/Gir's been awfully quiet, I should probably check on him,/ she thought, then headed for the living room. Gir was watching one of the really sappy soap operas. She sat with him on the couch and watched absently, chewing silently on her toast, then started actually watching the program. As it progressed, she started getting really into it. Gir had to hand her a tissue when it was over, and she wiped her eyes dry, still sniffling slightly. "Becoming female has made me more emotional, I must be careful to control my reactions better," she said, rubbing her eyes. They hurt slightly, even the water from crying stung a little, making faint burn marks along her cheeks. That was one of the reasons emotions were mostly discouraged on Irk; if their soldiers got all weepy over fallen comrades, they wouldn't be able to see well enough to properly defend themselves in another attack.  
  
"Master? Should I call you Mistress now?" Gir asked, smiling innocently up at her. Zim choked for a second - the question was rather awkward.  
  
"Well, if you want to. You don't have to though..." she said at last. The little robot squealed in joy and gave her a hug. When he finally let go, Zim struggled to breathe easily again. Just as she figured she had her pulse back to normal, the doorbell rang. "Augh!! The doorbell!" she yelped. She scuttled to the door and looked through a little peekhole that opened up in the door. "Oh no, it's Dib.. what'll he say? What's he going to think?" she asked out loud, almost panicky. She opened the door just a little and looked out at Dib. "Yes?" she asked timidly, peering out.  
  
"Hey Zim, I was wondering... you wanna go for pizza or something? I know it's kinda wierd for breakfast, but..." Dib said, stammering a little.  
  
"Um, I can't... I'm sorry..." Zim replied, looking at the ground. "Gir messed up an experiment so I really can't come.." She could feel her cheeks start to burn at the stupidness of the half-lie and the embarrassment of the truth.  
  
"Gir's always messing things up, isn't he? Well, if it's so big you feel like you need to stay home, can I help?" Dib asked, smiling at her. She flushed a deeper red.  
  
"Errm... noo, I don't think so. This is kind of a not good mess up," she said, trying to think up something that would sound good (and dangerous) enough to keep him from wanting to help.  
  
"Oh... okay," he said, shrugging. He looked at her curiously. "Are you sick or something? Your voice sounds funny..." Zim's eyes widened a bit.  
  
"No, no, I'm not sick, just... errr... oh nevermind. I guess I might as well tell you," she said resignedly. "You'd figure it out anyway." Reaching out the door, she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside, slamming the door quickly behind them so nobody could see. "Gir was messing with one of my experiments, and he... er.. well, just look at me!" she yelped, her voice rising with barely controlled hysteria as she flipped the light switch. /Okay, I want OUT of this female body! These stupid emotions are way too strong!/ she thought. Dib just stared at her, his jaw hanging open slightly and his eyes wide in shock. Zim bit her lip and looked at the ground, her eyes starting to burn with tears. /Dib doesn't like me as a girl, what will I do? That stupid gun is still destroyed and I can't reverse the effects!/ she thought, the liquid beginning to overflow and drip down her cheeks. A pale hand drew up under her chin, pushing up gently but insistently. She looked up to see Dib's beautiful amber-brown eyes staring back into hers, filled with warmth and love. His other arm wrapped around her, drawing her nearer to him. He tilted his head down and kissed her lips softly. She looked back at him questioningly. He just grinned.  
  
"I'm not gay so much as completely in love with you, I suppose," he said. "You are different, but just as equally precious and beautiful." Zim's eyes shined with happiness, and he bent down for another kiss. Zim responded with joy and passion, feeling almost as if her very being were on fire. They were lost to the world for a long time after.  
  
*********  
  
The first thing Zim noticed was the cold, the cold and the warmth. That didn't seem to make sense at all, so she opened an eye slightly. Ah. She was cold because she had no clothes on, just Dib's trenchcoat draped over her. The warmth was explained soon after, as the proprietor of said trenchcoat held her close against his pale, bare skin. She smiled slightly, her memories returning. They had done what the humans called 'making love,' a term she felt was incredibly appropriate. She buried her face in his shoulder, content to just lie there and breathe in his sweet scent. A mix of cocoa and cinnamon, she decided upon, her mind drifting lazily. She nibbled slightly at his neck, smiling when he shivered slightly and opened an eye to look at her. She smiled up at him, staring into his warm amber-brown eyes. Maybe just amber. No, amber-brown. With flecks of gold. Yeaah... She sighed softly in contentment, kissing his bottom lip. "Sleep well?" she asked, grinning.  
  
"Best I ever had," he replied, lifting a hand to stroke her antennae. She shivered in pleasure, and he smiled down at her. "Looks like I found a soft spot," he teased, tracing his fingers lightly over one, the feathery soft touch causing her to shiver even more. He kissed her forehead, then stretched out, yawning. "I'm going to make some coffee, you want some?" he asked, disentangling himself and sitting up.  
  
"Okay, but I don't think I have any. Just cocoa mix," she replied, shrugging, then grinned at him. "It sorta smells like you, you know? Hot cocoa and cinnamony." She was pleased to see him blush slightly, then grin back.  
  
"All right, if there's no coffee we'll go for cocoa," he said, pulling his long blue shirt on. "In the meantime, how about you get cleaned up and dressed?" Zim nodded agreement, pulling Dib's trenchcoat around her. He headed for the kitchen, and she pulled the miscellaneous clothes lying around the room haphazardly into a pile for the computer to take care of. She took the elevator shaft under the table to her regular cleansing room, the cleaning arms in the ceiling of the living room coming out to take care of the messy couch and the clothes pile.  
  
`````````````````  
  
Dib had put the water on the stove to boil, finding out that Zim didn't actually have a working microwave. Apparently Gir had been messing with it, because the inside was all coated with exploded taquito remnants and the door hung off slightly. He was in search of a bathroom so he could take a shower. He wasn't entirely sure that Zim even *had* a real bathroom, but to his luck, he found one. Discarding his blue shirt, he started up the water and got in, a robot arm whisking the shirt off to the laundry with the other clothes.  
  
`````````````````  
  
Zim sighed happily as she turned off the gel dispenser. She felt all clean and refreshed as she got out, drying herself off and wrapping a magenta robe around her thin frame. Earth's lower gravity had made it much easier for her to grow taller, but that didn't mean she'd gotten any wider. Her antennae hung lazily back, showing how at ease she was. She took the elevator to the house level, then grinned as she heard the water running. Snatching up an extra robe and some towels, she snuck quietly into the regular bathroom. Her computer had deemed it necessary for maintaining the appearance of normalcy when she arrived, so it had added it in complete with running water. She shuddered a little in distaste, she went in there as little as possible. She perched herself on the sink counter with the towels and robe in her lap, waiting for Dib to finish. She wanted to just jump in with him but she hadn't bathed in paste for a while. Soon the water shut off, and she smiled to herself, pulling Dib's glasses out of reach of his searching hand, handing him a towel instead. She bit back a giggle as he pulled the curtain back, the towel wrapped around the lower half of his body, glaring at the floor in search of his glasses. Zim held them up and asked, "Looking for these?"  
  
"Zim? S'that you?" he asked, blinking at the blurry green and magenta form in front of him. He watched the floor carefully as he made his way over, trying not to trip and fall. "Can I have my glasses back?" he asked, giving her a pouty lip face with big puppy eyes.  
  
"Sure," she said, melting under the gaze of those big beautiful eyes. She hopped down off the counter and put his glasses on him. He caught her wrists and grinned at her.  
  
"Thanks," he said, kissing her forehead and letting her go. She smiled at him, her deep magenta eyes softening as she handed him the black robe and left him to dry his drippy wet hair. On her way through the kitchen, she noticed that the water on the stove was bubbling so she turned off the burner and hunted out a couple of coffee cups only slightly chipped from use and a pair of spoons. Digging around in the small cabinet next to the stove provided her with the cocoa mix, so she went ahead and fixed the cocoa. A pair of black clad arms from behind wrapped around her thin waist as that oh so familiar mop of black hair perched itself on her shoulder.  
  
"Just in time," she said, grinning back at Dib. She sniffed appreciatively, he smelled so good and squeaky clean.  
  
"I see that," he replied, letting her go and taking his cup. He blinked at her questioningly as she sipped hers. "By the way, how do you drink that stuff? It's mostly made of water, and doesn't that burn you?" he asked. She shrugged.  
  
"My insides don't burn from liquids, just my skin in reaction to regular Earth-water. Considering how dirty and polluted most of it is, I'm actually surprised it doesn't burn humans as well," she added, frowning in distaste. "It's probably a reaction to your stupid chemicals." She tapped the water filter on her sink nozzle happily.  
  
"Ah. I see," Dib said, sipping his own cocoa. His stomach rumbled complainingly that it hadn't been fed since last night's bowl of cereal. He grinned sheepishly at Zim. "So, how about that pizza?" he asked, laughing.  
  
"Sure, but I think we better get dressed first," Zim said, laughing too.  
  
"Let's make it an official dinner and a movie date, I hear they have some good movies out," Dib replied, grinning. "And I think you kind of stole my clothes."  
  
"Yeah, they needed to be washed... they should be done soon, but can I steal your shirt for a bit? Mine are all too tight now and while just having my vest is okay for the house, I don't particularly feel like going out with just that on," she said, smiling ruefully.  
  
"Okay, I don't mind... wait, what do I wear?" he asked, having a feeling he already knew the answer.  
  
"You can borrow one of mine for the time being! And don't give me that look," she scolded playfully as he grimaced. "It's just for a little while, I promise."  
  
"Well, I always did say that to know your enemy you had to get into your enemy's clothes, but you aren't exactly an enemy anymore," he said, laughing.  
  
"I should hope not," she replied, grinning at him. "Come on, we'll go see if it fits, though Irk knows you're thin enough." She poked his slender frame playfully, and her wrist beeped twice. "Oh our clothes are done!" she said. "Computer, bring clothing articles to the house level."  
  
"Processing, PROCESSING!" it said, and the clothes were unceremoniously rained down on them from the ceiling.  
  
"Stupid computer," Zim grumbled, picking out the clothes she was to wear. Dib snagged his as well, and they headed off to get dressed.  
  
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Eh, I coulda written more but I got bored with it and let my attention wander (not a good thing to do when you're trying to write) so I totally lost interest in this for the rest of today... or at least for a few hours! *blinks at it* is a lot longer than I originally thought it was... nyik nyik nyik, is decent... besides, you should be happy to get this at all! ^_^;; i reeeeeeeeeeeaally should be working on my artist book, as I have 22 pages to do in about... oh... four days... aiek... o0;; so don't expect much from me until next Friday, kay? kay... hope you enjoyed this! ^_^ more pictures coming as soon as i find my stupid digicam... it's hidden from me for the past two weeks... GR! GR I SAY!! ah well... individuals time!  
Bonnie: ^_^ ESP is goood... and I seriously seriously love that movie! It's one of the alltime greatest ever!! ^-^ plus they spoof on E.T.... that's always funny! I like E.T. too, but FotN was so much cooler! I love the little pet he takes home! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! *blinks at people staring at her* whaaat??  
Sen: Randomness is great! Give me your cheese, I have control of Japanese pants!! ^-^ Happy Noodle Boy is so cool... i love his randomness! THE MONKEYS! THE MONKEEYYS!! And penguins are truly skeery sometimes... o0; you only use 1/10 of your brain, the other 9/10s are used to store penguins... PENGUINS I SAY!!  
Black Silver: aww, thanks! and don't worry, that isn't the end! there is much to come! SO MUCH!!!  
ArmAndLeg: YAY! One and a half plot twists!! I like plot twists... blame my insanity on that crazee demon in my head known as inspiration! IT'S ALL ITS FAULT!! Wheee! I like twisti stuff, insanity is fuuun... Zimmy girl picchas will come soon! ^-^ I love my overactive imagination, it always gives me such nice visuals of what I'm writing... too bad I can't draw any of mah visuals OUT!! GRR! It makes me so mad!! Oh well, you'll all have to settle for mediocre picchas, won'tcha..  
invader-jazz: yeeeess... yeeeeeeeeeeeeees.... and she can't seem to control her feminine emotions! Girls are just so much cooler than guys... muahahaaa... not that I'm biased or anything... *twiddles her thumbs, grinning* noo, not mee... heehee!  
PRHG: YAY! You talked about the issue!! Now if only others would follow your example... and yes, much much Tallest fun is coming... later... how much later? *stares blankly for a second* i DON'T knooooww!!  
Diartemis: Eventually Zim'll be back to her regular male self, but not until many fun and interesting things have happened! *grins and plots evilly*  
Thank you all so much for reviewing! ^.^ you've made me a very happy procrastinator, but now I must go work on my art project... I love you all!! YAYY!! ^-^;; and hopefully you won't go all rabid and try to chew me to pieces... eek... cause I won't have the next chapter up for a week or so... myaa... sorry... anyway, peace OUT!!  
~*~Celelorien~*~ 


	10. Songficcy... Interludey... Thing... ?

Dib sat at the kitchen table, sipping coffee absently. Since it was one of two drinks in the whole house and there was only one soda left, he'd turned to his father's dietary staple. It actually wasn't all that bad, definitely preferrable over water anyway. Absently he clicked on the radio, only half listening as the DJ announced that the next song was "Hanging By A Moment" by Lifehouse. His ears perked up slightly as he took notice of the lyrics.  
  
/Desperate for changing  
Starving for truth  
I'm closer to where I started  
I'm chasing after you/  
  
Seemed like it was describing his childhood, wanting a change from the usual torment of his peers, trying to make them see that Zim was an alien. The daily chases had, instead of making the alien vulnerable to his plans, merely made his own heart vulnerable to the green kid.  
  
/I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you/  
  
He paused to stare at the radio questioningly. It was almost as if they KNEW him... He'd let go of Earth and its people, well, except Gaz. He was willing to let go of even her to stay with Zim, if need be. That was how deep Zim had penetrated into the thick walls around his heart.  
  
/Forgetting all I'm lacking  
Completely incomplete  
I'll take your invitation  
You take all of me now/  
  
He smiled softly to himself, sipping at his coffee once more. He did feel more complete around Zim, like the chunk that had been missing since his mother died was being filled in. He'd never forget her, and she'd never lose her own special place in his heart, but Zim... Zim filled up the void that had been blank for so long, the piece that craved love and attention, the piece that needed complete acceptance.  
  
/I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you  
  
I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and I question where to go  
And I don't know what I'm tapping into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you/  
  
Zim was his path, the only sure thing in this world of madness... Without the green-skinned alien, Dib was rather sure that he wouldn't be there. Zim kept him going every day, at first to try and expose him, then later, just to see him every day lifted his spirits.  
  
/There's nothing else to lose  
There's nothing else to find  
There's nothing in the world   
That can change my mind  
There is nothing else  
There is nothing else  
There is nothing else/  
  
Zim was the be-all and end-all. There /was/ nothing else for him in this universe.  
  
/Desperate for changing  
Starving for truth  
I'm closer to where I started  
I'm chasing after you  
  
I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you  
  
I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and I question where to go  
And I don't know what I'm tapping into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you  
  
Just hanging by a moment  
Hanging by a moment  
Hanging by a moment  
Hanging by a moment here with you/  
  
He sighed complacently to himself as he deposited the empty coffee cup in the sink, turning off the radio as he turned towards the door. "May as well see what Zim's up to," he thought out loud, smiling as he slipped his trenchcoat on and began to walk the same path he'd walked a million times before in pursuit of the beautifully elusive alien.  
  
Gaz watched him go from her window, then smiled slightly as she took out a walkie-talkie. "Agent Mongoose-Moose, do you copy?"  
  
"MOOOSE!"  
  
"Implement plan Pair-Alone!"  
  
"Ooooh, I get ta come to your house again Gazzy?"  
  
"Yeah, now get your metallic rear over here before Dib gets there!"  
  
"Oookidoki!"  
  
Satisfied with a job well done, Gaz went to set up her game systems; she was looking forward to a real battle royale in Kung Fu Pigs of Death. Gir had shown promise in that game, and was somewhat of a challenge. Moreso than she'd had in a while, anyway. She even started humming to herself as she put some popcorn in the microwave. No matter how much she hid it from the world and anyone else, she really did love her brother a lot. It was about time he finally found some acceptance.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Just sort of an interludey thingy, goes back in the story some to splain what happened before Dib got to Zim's house in chapter 9. Gir kinda forgot about Gaz's orders though, and was a bit late in starting off... he went out the back so as not to disturb the two... ^_^;; oh, and i'd like you all to know that this lil thingymadoo was written SOLELY FOR PRHG AND PARKER. because they did not hate on me. i SWEAR to you, Z-kun-chan will be back to his (her?) former male body SOON... pahLEEZE, don't hate me anymore than you already do! *snif* it was needed! for OBVIOUS plot twists that you should all be able to see coming! sheesh... sorry it's kind of a songfic, if you don't like songfics, but I do and I felt this really applied to Dibby-kun... so rah.  
~*~Celelorien Silvreflowre~*~ 


	11. Chopsticks and Noodle Boys

awww, you guys don't hate meee!! ^__^ now i'm all happy and stuff... snif... of course, my incessant sniffling could also be due to allergies... _X... ick on pollen.. rahh... and I PROMISE PROMISE PROMISE Zim will be back to his former male self, his girlish figure was required for certain plot twists you should all be able to see coming! I wuv you anywaayyy! Yee! ANYway, on with the chapter in which Happy Noodle Boy makes a strange guest appearance! (sorta)... also i've been gone for two weeks straight, and now band camp is starting. (full-day starting thurs and all next week) so i might not have as much time, cause after camp comes that dread horror... skooool... *shudder twitch twitch* HOW could summer pass so quick! it ain't faiiir... waaah..  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
They met back in the living room, Dib pulling his trenchcoat on dubiously. "It's a good thing it's the middle of fall or I might roast to death," he grumbled, inspecting the long sleeves of Zim's shirt.  
  
"Yeah, and it isn't winter so I'm safe from the cold," Zim added, looking at her bare green skin above her gloves. "So where exactly are we going for dinner?"  
  
"Anywhere but Bloaty's," Dib replied, making a face. "Pizza is good, but when you eat it at least once a day you get kind of sick of it."  
  
"What if we just went wandering around and decided that way?"  
  
"Sounds good to me."   
  
"Okay then! Let's go!" Zim grinned as she took Dib's hand and pulled him out the door. "If we get takeout we can have a picnic."  
  
"Takeout? Where could we get decent takeout?" Dib wondered aloud, then grinned. "I have just the place." He took the lead, in a sense. They stayed side by side, walking briskly down the sidewalk, but Dib guided them on their path. He grinned. "Ever had Chinese food before?" he asked, beaming at Zim.  
  
"Chai-neez? What is this... chai-neez?" she asked, blinking at him.  
  
"Not chai-neez, Chinese. It's really good, from Asia. There's a neat little restaurant downtown, and if you get takeout they give it to you in these neat little boxes," Dib explained. "Real Chinese people eat it with chopsticks, but if you don't know how to use them, you can ask for a fork."  
  
"Oh, okay," Zim replied, trying to act like she understood when all this really just left her in the dark.   
  
"Look, there it is!" Dib said excitedly, pointing to a large building topped with a big pink pig holding chopsticks.  
  
"...Interesting..." Zim said, pausing to look at the pig. Dib kept walking though, and she looked around to see his trenchcoat disappearing into the restaurant. With a little squeak of surprise, she ran to catch up. "It isn't nice to leave a lady behind," she scolded playfully, grinning at him.  
  
"Lady? Where?" he teased, smiling back. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he caught it in one hand.  
  
"Mehh! Yemme go!" she squeaked, and he did, catching her around the waist and pulling her closer to him.  
  
"Don't tempt me so, you little demon," he reproved softly, kissing her on the forehead before letting her go. "One advantage of chasing you all those years is that my reflexes have gotten better."  
  
"Don't I know it," she replied, grinning back ruefully.  
  
"Heddo? Can I take you odah?" a small man behind the counter asked.  
  
"Oh, sure," Dib said, smiling as he released her. "I'll have the takeout chicken chow mein... how about you?"  
  
"Umm... I'll have the same!" Zim said, figuring that if Dib was eating it it was probably okay. Better than skool food anyway.  
  
"Ookaydokay!" the Chinese man said, and scurried off to place their orders with the chef.  
  
"Dib? What's chow mein?" Zim asked quietly, blinking confusedly.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot you never had Chinese before! It's basically chicken pieces and noodles and vegetables, and it usually comes with rice. Rice is good," Dib said, licking his lips.  
  
"Hmm... I shall try this... /rice/ stuff, and since you like it so much, it must be good," she said, nodding as if this was the most important thing ever said. Dib couldn't help himself; he started laughing at her complete seriousness. She raised a nonexistant eyebrow at him. "What's so funny?"  
  
"Just... just you..." Dib managed to get out, choking back his laughter. He grinned at her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You're really funny when you do that, just part of the reason I love ya so much." He was somehow pleased when she flushed pink. "You're really pretty, too, when you get all blushy and stuff," he added, grinning even wider as she blushed again.  
  
"Flatterer!" she said, putting a finger on his lips to shush him.  
  
"Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear alien," he replied, kissing it.  
  
"Hee you go!" said the little man, returning with two little white boxes. Dib paid for them, Zim protesting that she should pay her share.  
  
"Nah, lunch is on me if I get to pick where we have our picnic, okay?" Dib said.  
  
"Well... fine then, if you want to," Zim replied, shrugging. Dib smiled.  
  
"Great," he said, taking her hand as he walked out, boxes in one hand by the handle. "Come on, I know the perfect place."  
  
"You planned that, didn't you," she said, pretending to be exasperated.  
  
"Yup!" Dib said, grinning back at her. "But you don't mind, so come on." She smiled and shook her head, following him willingly. He led her to the park, Zim wincing as she remembered how close she had come to ending it all with a laser when she'd found out her mission was a hoax. It was still kind of hard to believe that Dib loved her so completely; she'd never had that kind of devotion from anyone before. Gir didn't really count because he was a robot and preferred the Scary Monkey show and brainfreezies to obeying her. He stopped abruptly, and she looked around.  
  
"Is this where we're having our picnic?" she asked, looking at the grass.  
  
"No, but I want it to be a surprise. Here, hold these," he said, handing the takeout boxes to her. "You just have to trust me for a few minutes, okay?" She nodded, and he went around behind her and put a hand over her eyes. "No peeking now," he admonished playfully, taking her free hand in his and guiding her on. There was a rustling sort of sound, then he stopped her and took away his hand. "You can open them now," he said, excitement evident in his voice. She did, and gasped slightly. They were inside the trailing branches of a weeping willow, the tree so old it had many many branches, all thickly covered in leaves that were still green, hiding much of the outside world from view.  
  
"It's... beautiful..." she murmured, turning in a circle to see the sunlight flashing in the tiny gaps and the endless-looking sea of grass beyond.  
  
"I thought you might like it," Dib said, pleased. "Shall we eat?" He spread out his trenchcoat on the grass for them to sit on, and they opened their boxes.  
  
"What're these little sticks?" Zim asked, picking up the chopsticks.  
  
"Those're chopsticks. Here, I'll help you," Dib replied, putting her fingers on the sticks properly. Taking up his own sticks, he showed her how to open and close them. "See? Just like that," he said, grinning at Zim, who had managed to pick up some rice. She promptly dropped it however. Dib just grinned. "I did that a lot when I was first learning."  
  
"When did you learn?" she asked, trying to pick up some more rice and failing.  
  
"I don't really remember. I was fairly little, I think about four? My Mom taught me, we used to order takeout all the time when she was alive," he said, sticking a mouthful of rice in and chewing it broodingly.  
  
"What was she like?" she asked softly.  
  
"She was wonderful," Dib said, swallowing the rice. "She died when I was six, but I remember her really well. She had long purple hair, it looked kind of like Gaz's, and these bright amber eyes that were always laughing. She was really into the paranormal, come to think of it, that's probably where I picked it up. We used to lie on the roof together and she's point out the constellations. Sometimes she'd make up stories about the people who lived on the planets around the stars. There were the friendly but stupid Gasqueegasplorches, the child-like Nhar-Ghok, and her favorites, the Nekris."  
  
Zim's chopsticks fell to the ground as she stared at him, wide eyed. "H-how? How..?" she whispered, not blinking.  
  
"Z? What's wrong?" Dib asked, looking up at her.  
  
"Those are real species! The first two anyway! What... how did.. what did these Nekris look like in her stories?" Zim asked, still staring at him.  
  
"W-what?! They're real?" Dib yelped. "The Nekris were green, and had big colorful eyes and black antennae and... and..." His eyes widened even more. "Come to think of it, they looked just like you!"  
  
"Nekri, Irken!" Zim gasped. "But how did she know?!"  
  
"I... I don't know! She's always told me those stories, ever since I was a baby... I just thought they were pretend, so I forgot about them, but..." he stuttered.  
  
"I wish your mother was alive," she said softly. "Then we could ask."  
  
"Wow... I can't believe it..." he whispered. "Well... there isn't much we can do about it, so.. so let's finish our lunch."  
  
"Yeah, after all, it might just be coincidence," she said, smiling. Neither of them really believed that, but it was okay to pretend. They continued to eat their lunch, chitchatting idly about skool, the tree, and other stuff. About halfway through her meal, Zim threw the chopsticks to the ground, and picked up her plastic fork instead. After lunch was over, they began to pick up their trash.  
  
"Is it just me, or has it gotten awfully dark?" Dib asked, looking up at the sky through the branches. He was answered with a splatter of water dropping onto his glasses. "It's going to rain!" he said.  
  
"Oh dear, oh dear," Zim fretted, cringing away from the sky.  
  
"Here," Dib said, scooping up his trenchcoat. "You can use this like an umbrella when we make a run for your house." He draped it over her, and it covered her almost completely. "You ready?" he asked. Zim nodded. "Okay, let's go!" he said, running out into the rain.  
  
"Wait for mee!" she called, running after and making sure she kept a tight hold on the trenchcoat. Dib started laughing, his arms out like he was pretending he was an airplane, running in circles. Zim caught up to him, and began laughing too; he looked so silly!  
  
"You laughing at me?" asked Dib playfully, coming up from behind her and wrapping her in his arms.  
  
"Yes, yes I am!" she said, grinning at him in challenge. "What're you going to do about it?"  
  
"This!" he said, picking her up and spinning her around. "Would the lady like to hitch a ride?"  
  
"Aii.." she replied, dizzy.  
  
"Good!" he said, lifting her up onto his back. "Here we go a-piggyback, hold on tight!" Zim did so, and Dib took off running, the two of them laughing like they were high the whole way. Neither of them saw the purple garbed figure underneath a big purple umbrella, watching them and holding the leash of a bright green dog. Gaz smiled, and dragged Gir off to her house.  
  
~~~~  
  
"Whew, that was fun!" Dib said, clad in just a towel as his clothes were being dried.  
  
"Yeah, it was. We should really do that more often," Zim replied, cuddling up next to him. She still had her clothes on mostly, thanks to Dib's trenchcoat. She had her gloves and boots in the dryer though - they had gotten a bit wet. She was just thankful that after her first horrific encounter with water, she'd gotten waterproof versions of the Irken standard issue. She frowned slightly, and Dib noticed.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking down at her.  
  
"Nothing, I was just thinking... I'm not really an Invader anymore, so I don't have to wear the uniform. I'm thinking it's time to get some new clothes," she said thoughtfully. (whew, that's a lotta thinks!)  
  
"You want to go shopping?" Dib asked.  
  
"Later. Right now I just want to be with you," she said, snuggling against him.  
  
"That's fine with me," he replied, drawing her close and kissing the top of her smooth green head. Zim made a little purry noise, making Dib smile. "You're my lil kitty cat, huh?" he said softly.  
  
"Meow," was her reply.  
  
"Kitty cat want to be petted?" he asked in one of those silly pet voices. Another meow from Zim. Dib smiled at her, reaching one hand up to stroke her antennae. He grinned as she shivered slightly, purring again. He slid his fingers lightly down one, tracing the feminine curl at the end. The purring got a little faster. Using his index finger and thumb, he massaged gently down the length of the other and was rewarded with a shiver as her hold on him tightened. She pulled her head away, her bright crimson eyes meeting his with pleasure and almost pain.  
  
"I don't mean to sound harsh, but can you please keep the touches light on my antennae? They're very... um... sensory oriented, if you catch my drift," she said, smiling weakly.  
  
"Oh, okay. Maybe after we go shopping?" he asked, eyes twinkling. She grinned back.  
  
"Sure. After shopping," she said, kissing him lightly. A little ding sounded from above. "Clothes are ready," she observed, as his clothes were dropped in a heap from the ceiling all nice and dry and fluffy. She put a hand over her eyes and shut them as Dib got dressed, only sneaking a peek through her fingers twice.  
  
"Ready?" he asked, pulling his trenchcoat on and offering her his arm.  
  
"Ready," she replied, looping her arm through his. A robot arm brought her her wallet. "Thank you," she said, accepting it.  
  
"Cheeese..." the computer replied. Zim looked up at it oddly. "Beware, for the fish lickers will come and sacrifice your ketchupy penguins to the mushroom stick!" it yelled.  
  
"Must need a new AI brain," she said, blinking. Dib smothered a laugh, and they headed off to the mall. As the door shut, they could still hear the computer preaching nonsense to the multitudes. Well, not multitudes, as there wasn't anyone home anymore. The computer seemed to notice this, or rather, we think it did...  
  
"Hark! The beef minions have been eaten by the hobo kumquats! Who now, smelly monkey, brings the giant potato's pink giraffe hither?" it shouted, then was silent.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Teehee... :3 i love the Happy Noodle Boy! He makes such good sense! ^-^ Nonsense is good sense, very good indeed. Do I do a passable Noodle Boy? I've never read any of the comics (awww...) but i've heard about him a great deal! Especially from that story where Dib was possessed by the goldfish ghost! Eh... I don't remember who wrote it... but it was good!! ^_^ I laughed a lot... Poor Dibbu! Yeeheehee... sorry it's kinda short, been away a lot and lacking of inspiration.. i'm poking through the older archives of fics to find some... o0; wheeee... CLOTHES! leave me some suggestions for possible outfits! PLEEEASE! i am so happy nobody really hates me though! .^-^. i soo happy... INDIVIDDIE NOTES! WHEE!!  
PRHG: Heehee... ^_^ Pur-kun is so funny! aww... i'd be skeered too... ^_^  
Moonlady: FWAHAHA! Flight of the Navigator will take over the world with its coolness!! either that or Zim, whichever comes first... bwahaa...  
Rylyn: Aww, it's okay.. had me worried tho!! :p oh well, is all okii now! Yay! That IS kind of a weird coincidence... or is it?! o.o;;  
Parker: Fwweeeee! :] yeah, tis muy cuteness! i'll draw a piccha sometime when i'm not so darn lazy... heehee... 


End file.
